The Dragon Chronicles
by Hitoshirezu Ryu
Summary: Having always stood out in the world, young Rei has always been determined to find out why. A journey starts with a single step, but the self-discovery is found within the journey, not the goal.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.**

* * *

**The Dragon Chronicles**

_Prologue_

* * *

There once was a man called Gold Roger. He was known as the King of the Pirates and had riches beyond anyone's imagination. However, one day the Marines managed to capture him. Powerful and infamous as he was, it was of no surprise when hundreds of people attended his execution in Loguetown. Gold Roger instilled inspiration for adventure into the hearts all who would learned of his dying words.

"My fortune is yours for the taking, but you'll have to find it first. I have left everything I own in One Piece."

And thus the great race began to find Gold's treasure and become the next Pirate King...

* * *

"Ahoy! Land oh!"

Cheers were made at the prospect of finding land after days of braving the fierce ocean. However, they were cut off when the caller made the second announcement.

"Oh no! Pirates! What should we do?"

There was a slight hesitation before their fearless leader spoke the response. "We'll do what we always do, Suzume! Work with each other and fight against them! We are the Queens of the Deep Blue Sea and there are no pirates too great for us to beat!"

"Yay! Nee-vil Pie-wates! Fight!" The youngest of the three of them cheered, causing the others to pause and stare.

"No Usagi, not nevil, _evil_," Suzume groaned as she scolded the youngest sister. "If you don't get it right, you can't play."

"Don't worry about it Suzu, she's only five. She'll get it later, for now just correct her if she says it wrong and keep playing." The oldest said, patting her sister, Suzume, on the head.

"But Rei~" Suzume whined to the eldest as she pouted a bit, "Even _I_ know it's not nevil and I'm six!"

"Six and a half," Rei corrected for her, "Usagi just turned five a month ago."

"Yeah! Meanie-head!" Usagi retorted, sticking her tongue out at her second older sister.

"Mom! Usagi's sticking her tongue out at me!" Suzume hollered, ditching her two sisters to go tell on the youngest of the three.

"Mooom! Suzu called me 'tupid!" Usagi quickly followed after the middle daughter in hopes to avoid punishment or perhaps bring her tattling sister down with her.

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not! Mom, Usagi's lying!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"AM NOT!"

Rei just watched as the two totally forgot about the game and ran back inside the house where they would no doubt fight for at least half an hour while their mother tried to play referee. She giggled a bit to herself before continuing on in the game, with or without her sisters. Raising her toy sword in the air, she posed herself in a triumphant manner on the rocks she stood upon.

"Stay back ye scurvy dogs! You are no match for me! Rei Swift, the greatest good pirate of them all!" She yelled out to no one before beginning her fight with her imaginary foe.

Rei Swift was just like any little eight year old girl, full of energy and looking for fun. She and her two sisters, Suzume and Usagi, were often outside in their backyard playing together with their imaginations, going on great adventures that were exciting, daring, and even dangerous!

Their favorite thing to do was pretend they were fearless pirates, sailing the seas and striking fear into their enemies with their amazing strength and abilities. Sometimes they would end up fighting huge sea monsters, slaying them easily with their swords. All before snack time too!

Or there would be other times where they would find islands nobody had discovered yet, often filled with unknown plants and animals and sometimes people too! They would also discover maps that contained the location of ancient treasures and with all their riches would buy entire islands and become the people's rulers. They were always good to the people though and protected them from the bad guys!

All these wonderful adventures that Rei and her sisters would think up were all done in the safety of their backyard, often using sticks as swords, a log as their boat, and the huge rocks in their yard were sometimes islands and sometimes vicious sea monsters trying to eat them or their subjects.

The three girls all dreamed of becoming the kind of pirates they pretended to be. Perhaps their longings were fed by the endless tales of the great pirates sailing the seven seas and the freedom they seemed to have attained from their status in life. Rei would usually read to her sisters books filled with courageous characters who traveled around the world and conquering over evil. It was because of those stories that all three of them were certain that they would one day be like those characters, even if there were labeled as pirates.

Their parents would laugh at their daughters playfulness, encouraging the trio to dream big, but both secretly hoped that this phase of being pirates would soon be outgrown. Pirates were not welcome and often hunted by Marines and those affiliated with pirates were put in a dangerous position. However, since the girls were only children, their parents did the best they could to encourage good morals and manners from the girls. They would tell them that good pirates were virtuous and lived by a code of honor, despite the fact that most _real_ pirates they had heard of did not.

Though Rei and her sisters were often playing outside, it didn't mean that was all they did. The girls had chores to do around the house, their mother slowly preparing them for the day when they would run their own household and have a family of their own.

The chores weren't too complicated, having to be simple enough to hold the attention of an eight year old, a six year old, and a five year old, but they were designed to keep the girls interested long enough to finish, like separating the white laundry from the colored laundry, putting all the toys in the toy box, making their beds, and dusting their room.

Since Rei was older than the other two, she also helped pull the sheets off the bed when it was time to wash them, clean the hardwood floors, and watch her baby brother, Maikya, when her mother was dealing with her sisters, cooking, or doing her other, more difficult chores.

Though the Swift family wasn't poor, they were not rich either so everyone in the family had to help out. Rei never minded the chores, in fact, she loved helping her mother, Koi, in any way possible often doing more than she was asked to do. Her sisters sometimes did more than what they were obligated, but at their age, they would rather play than work.

When Rei was finished with all her chores at the house, she usually headed straight for the general store that her father owned. There were several other general stores in town, but her father, Jon, was a good merchant and was capable of drawing in customers despite the rivalry the other stores created. Since Rei was extremely shy, her father had decided that it would be a good idea to have her assist him for a few hours a day.

Not only would she get use to being around other people, but perhaps become accustom to holding conversations without nervously stuttering out her words. Though she had yet shaken the habit of stuttering, Rei enjoyed working at the store. Her jobs weren't big, mostly just putting away their stock and tidying up the counters, tables, and floor, she always did her jobs the best she could so that the store always looked welcoming for the potential customers that would come in throughout the day.

Once she was finished, her father would shoo her out of the store before she insisted she stay and told her to go and play. Though some of the times Rei would go back to the house and begin playing with her sisters in the back yard, she usually meandered about the town, looking to see if she could help out any of her fellow villagers. Rei, though she was very shy, loved helping people in any way she could. Her whole family was very generous with their time and services, which was something the townspeople really admired about the family. During the preparation for special events, her family would donate food to help bring in tourists.

The villagers were famous around the area for their wonderful ability to make fireworks; hence the island's name Fireworks Island. People would come from neighboring islands just to see the villagers launch their handmade fireworks into the night sky. However, by gathering crowds to see their fireworks, the village also thrived on the money the tourist would spend while at Fireworks Island's festivals. So, in order to help keep Fireworks Island thriving, the Swift family was willing to give a helping hand in anything that needed to be done.

Even Rei loved to help the villagers. Though she was very shy and quiet, she almost instantly brightened up at the opportunity to help. She would help with anything that she could from carrying groceries for the older villagers to just being there to listen. She still didn't say much, even when she was helping, but she felt like she really got a feel for the person she was helping, just by observing and listening and felt closer to them through that.

Through her good deeds, Rei became a loved member of the village, often her praises sung by those she helped. She couldn't help but be embarrassed when they continually talked about her to her parents. While her father and mother were ecstatic about her popularity around the village, Rei detested the extra attention. She would have preferred it if the people she helped had just kept quiet about it. She didn't like being in the center of attention, unlike her sisters who reveled in it.

If anything, she wanted to fit in and melt away into the crowds just like anybody else, but she couldn't. It wasn't always because of her good deeds she did around the village, in fact the tourist didn't even know anything about her charity towards her fellow villagers and they still would stare at her. Too enthralled by the one feature that made her stand out and isolate her from the rest: her bright red eyes.

Rei knew it was because of her eyes. She could be picked out of a group of children playing on a playground just because of her rare eye color. She knew it was rare, no one else she had ever met had her same color, not even her family. Suzume was the closest in eye color, but hers were only a few shades brighter than their father's, Usagi's, and Maikya's. The rest of had a reddish-brown color that while it could look red, was too dull to be as visible as hers, which she swore could be seen easily in the dark. Her already shy disposition around other people make this anomaly everything even worse. It isolated her from other people, making her different and abnormal.

And because her eyes did so, she disliked them. However, Rei couldn't help but wonder why her eyes were the way they were. Her father didn't know, only stating that it was a family trait from his side, but he couldn't remember having any family with eyes as fiery red as hers. He would always proceed to praising her eye color, claiming that they were beautiful. Rei couldn't see them that way, just another way she was different from the rest of the villagers.

Perhaps, she always pondered, she could discover why her father's family had red eyes and why hers were even more brilliant than the rest. It was definitely something she was interested in uncovering.

Little Rei didn't know it then, but one day she could come to appreciate her exotic eye coloring after discovering the history behind those ruby eyes.

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A/N: Please visit my profile for additional information about the making of the story. This is only the prologue and it will be a slow paced, but the plot will develop with more characters. And this is my first fan fiction, so when reviewing, please keep flames to yourself but constructive criticism is always welcomed. This is a collaboration between my friend Volleys-chan and myself, so please take care of this story.

I have been writing this story since October 30, 2011. I have not posted until now because I have gone through extensive editing, due to character and plot development. This story you are reading is not the same story that I had Volleys-chan beta'd. The story evolved through the course of writing, causing me to rewrite it to ensure a consistent tone throughout the story.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I. **

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**The Dragon Chronicles**

_Chapter 1 - Adrenaline_

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"Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.

You must travel it by yourself.

It is not far. It is within reach.

Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.

Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land."

― Walt Whitman

* * *

Since Rei was very young, she could always remember how her father told stories of other islands that he had seen when he had been a sailor. He wasn't from Fireworks Island, like her mother was, he was from a different island called Water 7. Rei and her sisters loved it when he sat down and shared stories about his childhood with them.

His life was so different from theirs when he was little and living with his family on Water 7. At times, Rei was confused about why her father had stopped traveling. Whenever she had asked him about it, he would smile and tell her it was because he wanted to be with her mother, Koi. Life traveling on the sea was dangerous at times because of the pirates and he didn't want to put his family in harms way.

For some reason, it always disappointed Rei that her family didn't travel. Her mother, her siblings, and she herself had never been off the island, unlike her father, and she yearned to know what the other islands were like, what their people were like, and what made them unique and different. Books could only tell her so much.

Perhaps that was why she was so thrilled about adventures and pirates, because pirates seemed to have the freedom to see the world without having to obey the rules of the World Government. It wasn't that she thought Marines were bad, they were constant visitors to the island when they were in need of supplies, but they seemed to have too many rules that they had to follow that limited them in having adventures.

So, when Rei and her sisters were told one morning that they were going on a vacation to visit their father's family in Water 7, Rei was beyond elated. Though she didn't jump all over her father like her sisters did, there had been no way to wipe that smile from Rei's face the whole week before they set sail. Her father told her that his old captain and crew were coming into port.

They had sent him a message from the island over, checking up on the man that had jumped ship at Fireworks Island. Though his old crew had been sad to see him go, they knew that he had always been looking to settle down and start a family. It had only been a matter of time. Anyways, her father had been surprised when they said that they would not only be pulling up to port at Fireworks Island, but also their main destination was Water 7.

Apparently, from what Rei understood, the captain had invited their whole family to join to go to Water 7, where they would drop them off. They would only be there for a week or so before departing again and would be back within a month, heading back towards Fireworks Island, and would pick them up and take them home. And as long as her father helped on the ship, the trip would be free!

Rei wasn't sure what was more exciting, going out to sea on a real ship with real sailors or going to see Water 7 and seeing the place her father grew up. She decided it was the trip as a whole that was the most exciting prospect. The ship would be in port within the week, and would depart after about three days of getting there. Allowing the men to restock their supplies and help settle the Swift family into the bunker that was to be theirs for the duration of the trip.

In response to this news, Rei took the week before the ship got there to prepare. She helped her mother pack what would be necessary for the family have for their several month long adventure, but also studied from the books she could get her hands on about ships, the proper jargon used by sailors, and other useful things like how to tie the different knots that the sailors used for their daily lives on the ship.

Her father would even help her practice her knot tying, enjoying the fact that his daughter was so excited about the trip, and even taught her some basic survival skills he had learned on the job. She began reading survival books as well, exhilarated by the daydream of being castaway on a deserted island. All the information she learned only fueled her excitement for their trip.

When the ship finally pulled into port, Rei could name the type of boat it was, what its trade was, how many lifeboats it had, what the flag they sailed under symbolized, and what license the captain had in order to have command over the ship. It was, of course, a merchant ship that dealt in transporting the goods of its customer to the intended destination. The goods varied on the client and their particular trade. The captain probably even had a voyage charter to allow him to travel from port to port and deal with different clients along the way.

As her father had said, the ship stayed on Fireworks Island for three days. Most of the time, the crew was busy gathering up supplies or relaxing at the local bar, but her father managed to steal away some of the captain's time, long enough to introduce the man to his wife and children. His name was Mizushima Roka and he also came from Water 7 like her father. He was only a few years older than Jon, but her father had explained that he had graduated from school with the highest marks and learned the trade quickly under the tutelage of his father, who was the owner and previous captain of the ship before handing it over to Mizushima Roka.

Captain Mizushima was a very charming and pleasant man, Rei observed as he spoke to her father and mother. He had a deep voice that was rich, not raspy or gruff at all, and he liked to smile. Rei had to crane her neck to even see the guy's face, since he was tall.

Her father probably wasn't the best person to compare other people to since he wasn't the tallest, but he wasn't too short either, barely taller than her mother by perhaps an inch, but this guy was definitely taller by at least a foot or two. He had a sturdy frame and though he wasn't packed with muscle like some of his men, he looked like he could hold his own quite well. The man also had long black hair that he kept pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, his uniform clean and pristine.

Probably the best feature about him were his eyes. They were a brilliant blue, reminding her of the ocean when the sky was clear and the blue was reflecting off the ocean's surface. The color was very prominent in comparison to his black hair and sun-kissed skin.

It surprised her parents as well as herself when she took an instant liking to the man, chatting with him without stammering over her words like she did with the neighbors or strangers. He was very interested in her as she talked to him, telling him about all the things she learned about sailing from her father and the books in the local library.

Captain Mizushima couldn't stay as long as Rei had wanted, needing to see to a few things on the ship before their departure in the morning, but he promised that he would let her stand with him during tomorrow's departure and see how he commanded his ship. And boy did he live up to his promise. The ship left around eleven the next day, after her family was shown to the bunker that they would share for the duration of the trip and made sure that they had everything that would be needed. Captain Mizushima came to their bunker personally and escorted Rei up onto the deck as he gave the command to cast off.

Never before had Rei seen such an event from up close and never did she feel such excitement before that moment bubbling up inside of her. The call of the ocean was powerful at that moment as it carried the merchant ship towards the horizon and farther and farther away from Fireworks Island. It was probably during that period of time that Rei knew that she would never again be content about living on Fireworks Island. The world she knew back on the isle was now too small for her and she longed for a world far bigger than just one, small island.

And somewhere in her bones she knew that this voyage to Water 7 was the first of many that she would take. However, she also had a foreboding feeling stirring within her. Somehow, she felt that this simple journey was going to take her far, far from everything she knew and she wasn't sure if it would ever let her go back. Rei shook the feeling, telling herself it was nothing but a childish fantasy gone awry, but deep down she knew her instincts had yet to lead her astray.

* * *

Rei quickly made her way towards Captain Mizushima, who was talking with his quartermaster over the details of the ship. The morning was particularly foggy, thicker than the usual mist that gripped Fireworks Island in the early morning. This fog was so thick it was almost impossible to see farther than fifty feet away. The Captain had already ordered that the ship stay alert and to furl the sails so that they didn't accidently hit another ship. It was apparently a popular route and in this weather, Captain Mizushima believed it was best to slow down the speed of the ship just in case they came upon another ship and realized it too late.

The captain gave the young child a quick glance and nod, acknowledging that he saw her there, before returning his full attention back onto his quartermaster. They were busy discussing the current route the ship was taking and if it was the most proficient route. The other man assured Captain Mizushima that it was, reminding the captain that this route had the least percentile of pirate attacks over the other routes.

"I like to be overly precautious," Roka explained as their conversation came to an end. "We have civilians on the ship this time, not just cargo. Cargo can be replaced but not human lives. Forgive me, fog naturally makes me nervous."

"No, sir, I agree. I've sailed with too many captains that did not respect the temper of the ocean or the cunning of her less than noble residence. Many of them are no longer able to tell the tale of their learned humility after their brutal deaths." The quartermaster agreed. "Better safe than sorry."

"Indeed." Roka turned his gaze onto little Rei again, his strict features softening upon looking at her.

"Good morning Rei. How has your morning been?" Roka asked the girl as his eyes darted about his ship, trying to catch glimpse of something. "Are your sisters on deck yet?"

Rei did well to smother the giggle before it left her throat. As much as she loved her sisters, they both made it very difficult for her not to become irritated with them. Usually she was fine with their shenanigans, but after they had embarrassed her thoroughly yesterday, she was not in the mood to be around them.

"I am well Captain Mizushima. My sisters are with my mother, Captain. She decided that they had to be given a punishment in order to understand that they can't do whatever they want. I think she wanted it to be until we landed at Water 7, but I think she decided that she'd let them off the hook once they learn their lesson."

"Your mother is very wise then," Roka agreed with a light laugh, "As would all my men agree." Now that he wasn't concerned about little hands touching things they should not be, he was now able to concentrate on Rei. "My, that is a very pretty hairpin you are wearing today."

The hair ornament was a golden hairpin that had two leaf shapes that expanded on each side of the pins like bird wings. There were several rubies as well that adorned each end of the golden leaves while a big red jasper sat in the middle of smaller golden leaves, similar to the two large ones littered with rubies.

"Un!" Rei agreed with a light noise. Her hands instantly went to touch the hairpin as she beamed up at the men. "My Momma gave it to me! She said that it has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations! She said that her momma gave it to her when she was a lot older than me, but she thinks I'm mature enough now to have it."

Roka forced a smile, easily fooling the child before him. He knew why her mother had given her the hairpin. He had seen how openly Rei acted around him and how she acted around his other men when he wasn't present. Though she wasn't nervous around her parents or her siblings, Jon had told him that it was a rare anomaly that Rei was comfortable around anyone outside their small family. He had also seen how her mother responded to her daughter's friendliness with him. Though Jon was ecstatic that his daughter was getting along with someone other than her relatives, her mother seemed somewhat jealous over the growing relationship him and her daughter had. She had probably given her daughter the hairpin as a way to re-establish her relationship with her daughter.

Roka did feel bad that her mother felt threatened by him, but he couldn't explain the rapport that he felt with the little girl. It was a kinship of sorts. Ever since he saw those intelligent, ruby eyes he knew that the child was similar to him and his own. Because of that kinship, he yearned to teach her all that her little heart desired.

"It suits you very well." Roka told her, watching as Rei's smile grew even wider with his compliment.

"Thank you Captain!"

"You're very welcome, Rei." Roka nodded. "Now, remind me, what are we learning about today?"

"Well last night Papa showed me the different constellations in the sky so that I could be extra ready to learn how to read charts and how to navigate with just a map and compass!" Rei clarified with an excited tone.

Last night she had a very hard night sleeping because she was so excited about learning about reading charts. It was even better than learning about knots, about the different equipment a merchant ship had, including their arsenal, or about the different duties preformed on the ship.

"Alrighty then," Roka started, standing up and glancing at the man beside him, "I guess that means you'll be teaching Miss Rei alongside me, neh?"

The other man gave out a quick laugh before responding to his Captain and old time comrade. "Well I am the quartermaster around here Captain. I would be insulted if you didn't allow me to assist in the young lady's tutelage, especially in navigation."

"I'm glad you agree." Roka nodded, before turning his gaze at Rei. "Rei, can you tell me what the quartermaster's role is here on the ship?"

"Un. The quartermaster is an able seaman who is in charge of the ship's navigation as well as the sea charts and maps. They are usually independent or unlicensed members of the deck department on merchant ships. It is different on Navy ships because they are within their own ranking system there, but they still steer the helm or apply the helm orders given by the Captain or his watch officers." Rei informed Roku with a proud look on her face for remembering. "That's correct, isn't it Captain Mizushima?"

"Yes indeed, Rei. Now, let all three of us head over to my office and Mr. Jackson will begin your lesson."

Rei nodded and all three of them began to walk over to the captain's office. The fog still thick even as the sun rose higher and higher. Roku resisted sighing at the setback the fog created and focused on the young girl instead. She was brilliant, already memorizing all of her lessons and pursuing more knowledge than most eight year olds would even have the attention span for. The only child he knew with such learning capabilities like hers was his eldest son, but even he had difficulty learning things he had no interest in. Rei just seemed to soak up everything like a sponge, whether or not she truly was interested in the knowledge. He could already tell that this girl was to become something very, very special.

* * *

By the time they had left the Captain's office, it was close to lunchtime and Roka needed to check on his men before returning Rei to her family to eat. Afterwards, he would have been more than happy to continue her tutelage, if her parents said it was fine. As he, the Quartermaster, and Rei walked out onto the deck, he could immediately tell something was off.

The fog was still thick in the air, not at all deterred since was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds, but that was not what seemed off. He paused in his step, incidentally making both his companions stop behind him as well.

"Something is wrong," Roka murmured to his quartermaster in a deep tone, edge evident in his tone.

He was already making a grab for his saber as did the other seaman.

"What is it?" The other man asked as he too was instantly on guard, pushing Rei between him and the Captain for better protection.

"Listen." Roka whispered, his bright blue eyes scanning the area before him.

Rei, bless her heart, stayed silent as she also tried to figure out what was putting him on edge. She wasn't crying or freaking out like most children would but staying on guard as well despite her fear.

"I don't hear anything." She shook her head, not understanding what she was supposed to be listening for.

"Exactly," Mr. Jackson said, also now drawing his saber from its sheath. "There is nary a sound on deck besides the waves and creaking of the boat- where are the men?"

Rei realized what the two meant when she remembered there was hardly ever a time where there weren't at least two men on deck walking about or working, shouting, and making noise. All was silent and that was the problem. The ship was too silent for everything to be all right.

Suddenly, before Rei could even blink, they were surrounded. Roka and Mr. Jackson were exchanging blows with men that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. All of them wore black masks around their face that had fox ears, signifying to their enemies which pirate crew they were affiliated with. Roka easily fended them off, keeping Rei close to him as he fought the overwhelming forces that threatened to harm him.

"Blast! They're pirates! They must have come across us while sailing through the fog!" Roka shouted over to Jackson, who was having a much harder time fighting off the men attacking him.

"They must have been waiting for us to leave your office so they could easily capture us!" Mr. Jackson agreed, before swinging his saber to defend himself from a fatal blow.

The two of them put up a good fight despite the odds, but it cost them a lot of their energy and concentration. There were too many for just two men to overtake- no matter how talented they were- and it only took one poor move for both of them to be defeated. Roka was doing well, having already defeated eight of the pirates attacking him and moving on to his ninth victory when he heard a scream, whipping around when he realized it had been Rei.

She was physically unharmed, but had been grabbed by a big man that easily looked like a gorilla with a black and blue beanie on his head, a black cloth bandit mask around his eyes, a leopard patterned scarf around his neck, long blue pants, lighter blue sash around his waist, black boots, and a pair of blue gloves that came up to his elbows.

Rei didn't stay idle as the man held her in his grasps, wiggling and squirming as she fought to break free. "Lemme go! Lemme go!" she chanted as she tried her best to break his powerful hold on her.

"Leave her alone!" Roka warned sternly as he began to turn his attention towards the man.

However, before he could go any further, the pirates behind him took the opportunity to attack. One of them wrapped his beefy arm around Roka's neck, while the other wrangled the sword out of his grasp. Mr. Jackson too had lost his concentration when Rei had let out her startled scream and now was unarmed and disabled. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face. Both men were quickly bound with their hands behind their backs and dropped to their knees.

To her horror, the pirates didn't stop with binding them. A small scream came from Rei's mouth as the first fist beat against Roka's face. The proud man spat blood on the wretched boots of his attacker. It only earned him another slap. Mr. Jackson tried to do something – anything – that could possibly help them out of their current situation, but his attempts were futile. His consequence for struggling was a kick in the ribs. Rei was shocked by the complete absence of honour in these pirates. Despite the fact that Roka and Mr. Jackson were bound and completely unable to defend themselves, they continued to beat upon them mercilessly.

"Captain Mizushima! Mr. Jackson!" Rei cried out, once again squirming in the gorilla man's hold.

The man that held her just snickered while he held onto her tighter, making sure not to drop her as he giggled over the scene before him. Rei couldn't believe that someone could find such cruelty hilarious. However, she soon found that all these pirates were enjoying themselves as some of the others joined in on the gorilla man's laughter.

Tears began to form in her eyes as she watched the brutality of these pirates. Both Captain Mizushima and Mr. Jackson were curled into balls as the pirates kicked, stomped, and even spat on them like they were trash beneath their feet. This wasn't what she thought pirates were like at all. These people were far more terrifying than the bad pirates that she and her sisters pretended to fight in their backyard adventures.

Were all pirates this cruel?

Suddenly, all the laugher died down and all the men stood at attention as one figure came strolling from the pirate ship to Captain Mizushima's. Though Rei was having a hard time paying attention in her emotional turmoil, she realized that this man was probably the pirates' captain.

He was an ugly, stout man with a long pointy red nose, beady eyes, sinister smile, and a huge potbelly. His spiked hair split down the middle creating an image of animal ears, like a dog or a fox or something. Rei didn't think he looked all that impressive as a pirate, the one holding her was much bigger and much stronger looking than this small man, but perhaps he had abilities that made him well feared and well respected within his pirate crew.

"Well done. Well done indeed." He praised his men as he sauntered further onto the ship. "You've made me proud boys."

"Thank you Captain Foxy, sir!" The pirates chimed, pleased to have earned the praise of the ugly man.

"How many times must I say it? Call me Oyabin." Captain Foxy insisted to his crew, a smirk on his face as he watched the two captive men take in his name.

"Yes Oyabin." His men corrected themselves, smiling at how they had made their captain proud.

"Foxy? As in Foxy the Silver Fox?" Roka said, a rumbled in his voice from the blood and mucus coating his throat and mouth due to his earlier beating.

The other captain, Captain Foxy, beamed at this identification. He puffed out his chest a bit, raising his head high as he let out a laugh. "Fuehfehfehfeh, that would be I! The one, the only!"

Before he could continue to gloat, Roka interrupted him.

"You're a scoundrel, a liar, a cheat, and a third-rate thief!" He all but growled, his features marred by an intense anger as he continued to shout at the little man. "Only a coward would attack a ship like you've just done! Where is the honor in this?"

Foxy instantly deflated at Captain Roka's harsh verbal jabs, sinking to his hands and knees in an over the top expression of his gloom. The man that held onto Rei was giggling at his captain's actions, not at all upset by the hurtful words like the other crew members. However, the scene only lasted a few moments, instantly Foxy sprang back up, arms crossed as he realized how unprofessional he had been.

"I am a pirate captain!" He all but shouted, nose up in the air in a 'better than thou' fashion. "I don't need a code of honor as long as I get whatever the hell I want! I do what I want and I take what I want!"

A just to prove a point, he marched up to Captain Mizushima and proceeded to stomp upon his already beaten form. Roka didn't give the other captain the pleasure of hearing him groan in pain, instead biting his lip to keep from making a sound as the other man proceeded to stomp his right foot repeatedly upon Roka's torso.

Rei couldn't do anything but watch in horror as the pirate captain continued his rampage upon Captain Mizushima. She had tried earlier to break free of the behemoth that held her tightly in his grasps to do anything to help, but as she continued to watch in horror, she realized she could do nothing at all. Finally, after what felt like forever to the young child, she found her voice.

"Stop it! STOP IT!" She wailed as tears began to fall from her eyes. Her normally quiet voice rang out strong as she once more began to fight her captor. "Leave him alone! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"Rei..." Roka muttered under his breath, trying to soothe the child before she got herself into dire trouble, but it was too late on his part. Foxy had already stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the small child in his minion's hold.

"And what do you have there, Hamburg?" He asked the gorilla like man, slowly sauntering over to get a better look at the little girl- easily his next victim.

"She was with, pupupupupu, the ship's captain and his quartermaster." Hamburg told him, giggling as if all of this was funny. "I thought you'd like me to hold on to her since she has such a pretty, shiny thing in her hair, pupupupupu."

Foxy automatically looked upon Rei's crown of raven locks, zeroing in on her mother's hair pin. Rei was now silent, fear having stolen her voice now that this cruel man's attention was upon her.

"My, what a pretty hair pin you have here, little girl." Foxy cooed darkly as he slowly lifted his hand as stroked her soft locks of hair, sidling his hand to where the hair pin was skillfully wound into her long hair. "So pretty, in fact, that I think I'll just keep it for myself!"

And with that, he proceeded to try to rip it from her hair. Rei screamed in pain, once more fighting the grip of Hamburg as her scalp seared with pain. Her mother, bless her soul, had put the accessory in her hair in such a way that the little girl wouldn't be able to cause it to come loose with any of her strenuous playing. And even now, the hair pin wouldn't come out, just tangling itself further into her hair the more Foxy pulled.

"How annoying," Foxy gripped, quitting his efforts for a while to peer down at the little girl's tearful face. "You're the kind of brat who likes to make everything difficult, aren't you?"

Rei couldn't help but grow angry at this man. He was the worst human being she had ever met! He purposely hurt people and took enjoyment out of it! He was willing to take things that were special to other people! He wasn't kind at all. Not him, not his men. Rei wondered if this was truly what a pirate was. A man without honor, who lied and cheated and stole and welcomed the bloodshed of the innocent. If so, she wished to be nothing like him and his ilk.

With her anger feeding her courage, Rei glared furiously at Foxy, looking him dead in the eyes as she muttered her next words. "You're a horrible monster and you look like an ugly dog."

Unlike before, where he had instantly deflated at harsh words, Foxy only took a few steps back, surprised by the malice that radiated from this small child. He would have eventually delated, once overcoming his shock, if it had not been for making eye contact with this little girl. He was instantly mesmerized by her eyes. They were like two ruby orbs that simmered like living pools of magma.

Foxy had heard stories about eyes that seemed to contain the essence of living elements, but never before did he think that those stories might be true. Forget about the stupid hair pin in the child's ratty hair, the girl as a whole was a treasure! If he could get her to Sabaody Archipelago, he could sell her for a zillion beli easily!

"Oyabin?" One of his men called to him, shaking him of his stupor. "Should we punish the little bitch for saying that to you?"

"No." Foxy said, causing everyone to blink in surprise. He cleared his throat, composing himself once more and placing that sinister smile on his lips once more. "No. We aren't to harm little miss- Rei, was it?"

"We aren't?" Hamburg asked, looking down inquisitively at the small child in his hands.

"No. Instead, we'll be taking her with us, as our _honored_ guest."

Rei instantly paled, no longer glaring at the man in absolute hatred. Her stomach dropped at the idea of being taken by these horrible people. Her voice was once more lost to fear as she began to look around in a frenzied manner, pleading silently for anyone to save her from this condemnation.

"No!" Roka shouted, fighting against his restraints with new vigor. "Leave Rei alone! She's only a child!"

"Only a child," Foxy laughed, grabbing Rei's face harshly and showcasing her frightened expression to the other Captain. "Look at these eyes! They are not only rare, but valuable! Think of how much somebody would be willing to pay for such a exotic eyes! She's more than just a child; she's a gold mine! Fuehfehfehfeh!"

Releasing her face, Foxy made a bored gesture at Hamburg. "Go, throw her in our brig. I'll figure out what to do with her once we are done here and off celebrating our triumph later tonight."

As Hamburg began to walk away, Rei managed to find her voice once more.

"No!" She cried hysterically, wiggling and fighting once more. "No! Don't let them take me! Captain Mizushima! Don't let them take me! Captain Mizushima! _Please_!"

Tears were pouring down her face as she saw the fallen expression of the man she was pleading so desperately to save her. He looked devastated at this turn of events. Right before Hamburg was able to return to his crew's ship, Rei saw the determination return to Captain Mizushima's face as he fought his bindings once more with renewed vigor. Something within him had burst, giving him strength that wasn't present before and allowing his to snap out of his bonds.

"You will not take her!" He shouted, grabbing his rapier that had been within his range and zeroing in on Hamburg.

Hamburg had barely turned around to see the man about to attack when something unexpected happened. All Rei had heard before a flood of violet light washed over Captain Mizushima was the words 'Nora Nora Beam'. Instantly, Captain Mizushima had slowed down, barely moving at all.

"Fuehfehfehfeh, I had been hoping to use this new technique of mine," Foxy suddenly walked up to Mizushima's slowed form. "I just recently came across this new power and have been dying to try it out on someone like yourself. Too bad for you, though. You might have actually gotten the girl back if I had been anyone else. Now what to do... what to do..."

And right before Rei's eyes, Captain Foxy let out a flurry of punches upon the slow moving form of Captain Mizushima, calling out "Kyuubi Rush" as he did so. At first, the hits didn't seem to do anything at all, but seconds after Foxy stopped, Mizushima's prone form went flying, the man letting out a howl of pain as he was sent fifty feet the opposite direction and into the ocean with a harsh splash.

"Captain Mizushima!" Rei screamed, looking down at the rippling water where he had broken the water's film.

"Alright men, grab what you can and let's head out! We've got a long way to go to get our pay this time, but I promise you, men, it will be well worth it!" Foxy called out to his men, already passing Hamburg and boarding his ship once more.

"Yes Oyabin, sir!" His men gleefully called out, gathering some of the things upon the upper deck and taking it onto theirs.

Hamburg was once more moving, having now boarded the pirate's ship and was heading down into the lower sections to throw their prisoner into the brig. Rei didn't fight anymore, all her energy gone as she continued to cry. She cried over the fact that she would never see her family again, poor Captain Mizushima, and about how she didn't know what was to become of her.

She was scared. Pirates weren't at all what she thought they'd be like. They were horrible and now, she was their prisoner. She let out a pained cry when Hamburg had opened the cell door and thrown her in without a second thought. She didn't move from where she had landed, only pulled her legs to her chest, hugging them with her arms as she continued to cry.

She was all alone in great danger.

And it was all because of her accursed red eyes.

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Oyabin-Boss

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A/N: Thank you for your patience for this chapter. It went through couple of plot make-overs, before it became the chapter that captures an essence of One Piece. Now for the kidnapping, Foxy seemed the logical choice. In the series, he had 499 crew members and I imagine it took at least a few years to 'win' people through the 920 Davy Back Fights.

As a gentle reminder for those who haven't visited my profile, please do. I have addressed story elements as well as reasons for slow updating, rating, etc. This is a collaboration between my friend Volleys-chan and myself, so please take care of this story. And when reviewing, please keep flames to yourself but constructive criticism is always welcomed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.**

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**The Dragon Chronicles**

_Chapter 2 - Brigands_

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"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars."

-Khalil Gibran

* * *

Rei squeezed herself under the metal framing of the bed within her cell, praying, pleading to any deity that would listen that they wouldn't think of looking for her under there. She held her breath as she felt someone coming down the hall and almost started to hyperventilate when she recognized the soft pitter patter of the steps. She squeezed her eyes shut as the door that lead to the jail cells opened and the floral scent of her tormentor filled the room, instinctively making her tighten her grip around her knees that were pulled against her chest. She could hardly breathe in anxiety as the footsteps slowed before pausing before hastily making their way to her cell.

"Trying to hide from me, little Rei?" She heard the high pitch voice of the woman say. The woman's voice was laced with humor at the idea of the little girl being terrified of her. Rei knew that it had been a feeble attempt, but she was at her wits end.

She didn't know how long she had been a 'guest' of the Foxy Pirates, the days had long since started to blur from one agonizing day to the next, but she was beginning to give up hope of someone coming to save her from this hell. She had even made the mistake of trying to escape herself, only ending up in a predicament far worse than the one she had originally been in.

During the first few days, the Foxy Pirates had left her well enough alone, sometimes remembering to feed her while they continued to celebrate their biggest break yet. At first, Rei had spent most of her time crying in the corner, alone and scared and wallowing in her self pity. However, she eventually found the strength to suck it up and try to figure out a way to escape. The best thing she could come up with was to wait till they were close to an island before attempting to break out. She devised a few ways to do so, discovering that she was small enough to do one of two things- squeeze out the small porthole her cell had, which meant figuring out how to reach it since it was well outside her reach. Or squeeze between the bars.

She went for the latter of the two and when they had made anchor not too far from an island, she sprung her plan into action. It hurt a lot more than she had hoped it would, squeezing her tiny body through the narrow bars, but she managed it miraculously and began her journey through the ship. She had slipped out in the dead of night, after listening carefully for the noises of the men on deck. When there was the least bit of noise, she made her move and quickly found her way onto the main deck.

Rei had managed to almost get away without anyone noticing until she was climbing the railing and observing the tides below, seeing if she was comfortable enough with her ability to swim before jumping overboard. She didn't have much time when she heard a startled 'HEY!' and decided that she'd risk it before plummeting into the ocean and swimming with all her might.

With her adrenaline rushing through her veins, she thought she might actually have a chance of getting away. However, Rei then made her biggest mistake and put her trust in an absolute stranger. She had been halfway to the island when her little limbs began to burn from the over exertion it took to even keep her afloat in the rough tides of the high tide. It almost seemed like a gift from above when she saw a small rowboat a few feet away, rowing further into the sea and closer to her.

"Hey!" She remembered calling out to the person within the boat, not once suspicious of the odd timing. "Please! Help me!"

There had been a woman upon the small rowboat and she seemed legitimately surprised at the presence of a small girl swimming desperately within the waves of the ocean. She quickly bid the girl close and pulled her into the boat, inspecting her with great curiosity.

Still fueled by her adrenaline, Rei swiftly spoke to the woman of her current situation. "Please, y-you must help me. I-I was kid-kidnapped by pirates when my family was going to Water 7 and they've been holding me captive on their sh-ship. P-please. Please help me. I just want to go home to my fa-family." She had kept her voice low, so not to inform the Foxy Pirates, who were now desperately looking for her with torches and the moonlight, within the ocean. She could hear Foxy screaming at them for letting her escape and threatening them if they didn't find her.

"It's okay," the woman told her. "I'll hide you." There was something about the woman that didn't seem right to Rei, but she quickly shook the idea out of her mind, relieved that she was going to be okay. The woman had directed her to hide within the single burlap bag upon her little vessel. Rei remembers nodding and quickly opening up the bag before suddenly becoming perplexed by its contents. It was gold, jewels, and quick a fine sum of beli. Before she could even react to what she had seen, she found herself thrown into the sack and the mouth of the bag tied shut with a knot.

Stupidly, Rei realized too late that this woman had been apart of the Foxy pirates the whole time. She had yet seen her because the female pirate had been on a small recon mission upon the island that they had made anchor a ways away from and they were picking her up so they could head to their new destination where they were going to sell Rei. Through listening through the material of the burlap sack, she learned the woman's name was Porche and since then, she wished she had never learned of the pointy nosed woman.

"So what should we do to the little brat to teach her a lesson?" Foxy had angrily asked Porche when she had reunited with her crew and reported to them of the child she had captured.

Porche and she were still in the little rowboat when Foxy had asked that and Rei felt chills of fear run through her when Porche answered him, not the slightest hesitation in her voice.

"Have Hamburg come down here and dunk the bag into the ocean a few times, nyah. She can't get out and she won't be able to do anything to stop him."

And thus that was what they did. Rei had never been more terrified then she had in those long minutes when Hamburg kept the bag submerged into the water. She had tried to hold her breath for the long period of time, but after a few times of barely keeping her breath while submerged and the short respite given to her to catch her breath before being dunked once more, Rei nearly choked upon the sea water. By the time they were finished punishing her and releasing her from the burlap bag, Rei couldn't do much more than lie on the deck gasping and coughing for air as her poor lungs tried to regulate her breathing and empty themselves of any water she might of inhaled.

She vaguely remembers vomiting as well, but shortly after she had caught her breath, she had passed out. When she woke, she was in the same cell as before, but there were horizontal bars crossing the vertical bars of the cell now. She couldn't escape the same way again.

That wasn't the worse part though. During the time when she had been unconscious, Foxy had apparently assigned Porche to watch over her and care for her wellbeing. It was more like torturing her than it was taking care of her. Rei didn't really understand it too well, but the older female hated her. At first Rei thought it might be like in some of her books where a female didn't like the presence of another female within what she thought of as 'her domain', but Rei knew for a fact that there were other female members of the pirate crew and Porche and the other women got along fine.

Rei never really bothered to find out why the woman hated her so much, she was too busy being terrified for her life to figure out the internal workings of a sadistic woman. Rei knew that Foxy had forbade anyone, including Porche, from causing permanent damage, which would lower her overall value. But that didn't stop Porche from harming her. She would do all sorts of things that, though they don't seem like much, gravely hurt the small eight year old.

Rei was pulled out of her musings when a hand shot out and grabbed her, dragging her from the small space under the bed. Rei let out a small cry as she curled herself into a ball, flinching harshly when Porche gently caressed her back. She only ever did that before hurting her, trying to trick her into a false sense of security before promptly harming the child, like squeezing her small little hands until she screamed or pushing her fingers back as far as they could go before trying to push them beyond their limits, or pinching the sensitive skin between her thighs with her talon like fingernails and twisting the skin. If there was a way to harm her without lasting marks, Porche knew how to do it. Rei was littered with bumps, molting bruises varying in sizes and colors under all her clothing, and small little scratches.

These small things weren't even the worst of it. Porche had elevated in her cruelty as of late, taking any and all aggression she might have accumulated out on her. Porche knew how to dislocate limbs, like Rei's shoulder, and if the girl got too annoying with her crying and screams, she would pop on arm out of its socket and proceed to put it back shortly afterwards. She'd also make Rei eat her food (when she was given any) from a bowl on her hands and knees like a dog, calling her horrible names that made her shake uncontrollably. Porche had even forced her to drink scalding hot water, less she die of dehydration. Rei tried to refuse at first, but that only made Porche pour it on the girl instead. Though it wasn't boiling hot- thank goodness- it was hot enough to make her nerves shoot pain throughout her body as she tried not to scream and encourage the behavior.

She had started using her kunai to slice little cuts upon Rei's fingers, over and over and over again or use senbon to scrap under her finger nails until they bled from the abuse. Then she'd just smile and tell the little girl that they had to disinfect the cuts so she didn't get an infection and promptly forced the small girls hands into a bowl of lemon juice. The liquid burned her open wounds, causing pain to rush through her like no other. Rei would scream and scream and scream herself hoarse, begging for anyone to help her- to save her.

But no one ever came. She knew they could hear her, so she didn't know why no one ever came to stop the woman from harming her.

"Poor, poor, Rei," Porche cooed in a sickly sweet manner as she grabbed onto one of the child's small arms and forced her to stand. "She's all alone and away from _mommy _and_ daddy_. Left to be taken care of by mean old Porche, nyah?"

"N-n-no Porche-s-s-san." Rei stuttered, trying to avoid with her words what she knew what coming. "Y-y-you ta-take go-good care of m-m-me."

She hated this woman with a passion. Rage always burned through her when she was finally left alone to wallow in her pain and misery. She only hated Foxy more than Porche and that was because he was the whole reason she even knew this wretched woman.

"Yes," she purred in that high pitch voice of hers, "I take such good care of you. And never, ever forget it, nyah~"

The woman let out a laugh, one that sent chills down the young girl's spine as Porche gently caressed Rei's cheek with the back of her hand. Rei flinched, knowing that sharp pain would soon erupt from her face after the woman backhanded her violently.

However, Porche never got the chance. The ship suddenly rocked heavily, causing both females within the cell to stumble about from the unexpected movement. Porche recovered first as Rei collapsed to her knees when she was unable to regain her balance.

"What was that!" Porche screamed out to the men rushing past the prison room.

"Marines!" Was the rushed answer of one of the men, as they dashed about and prepared for a counter attack.

Porche let out a string of foul words as she released her grip on Rei, kicking her to the side harshly before exiting the cell, the door locking automatically upon closure.

"I'll be back to deal with you later, nyah." She sneered before disappearing back into the hall to help her nakama deal with the unexpected attack.

Though her body throbbed in pain from the harsh treatment it had just endured, Rei ignored it, her mind running a mile a minute as she tried to figure out what to do. The Marines were attacking the ship. The _Marines_ were attacking the _Foxy Pirates_! There was a low chance that they'd overtake the Sexy Foxy, since the vessel was actually quite expedient upon the ocean, but if she could somehow get off the boat, there was a very high chance that the Marines would rescue her.

The only problem now was that she was stuck in the cell with only a single, small porthole too high out of her reach as her only hope of escape. She gritted her teeth as she stood up, her body protesting it due to the days (weeks?) of abuse it had endured. Adrenaline was the only reason she was able to stand and quickly assess the problem she had noticed during her first attempt at escape.

It was still too high. Rei almost let one of the many new words she had learned from Porche escape her mouth as she tried to jump and reach it. Her bed was attached to the other wall and allowed her no way to get closer to her only hope. Pressed for time, Rei's mind was spiraling in a flurry of thoughts and ideas. It was almost too much for her poor eight year old mind to process, but just as she was about to try to scale the wall, hoping her little cut up fingers could fit into the narrow cracks between the planks, she realized something.

The horizontal bars of her prison, the ones that had been added after her first attempt at escape, could be used to get at height with the porthole! Wasting no time, Rei quickly scaled the bars like they were a ladder, climbing up as high as she needed so that she was slightly higher than the porthole, with was a good length away from the bars, but close enough that she might be able to jump to it.

Without hesitation, Rei began to attempt to grab onto the metal frame of the porthole. The first time she attempted, she had successfully made it, but fell as she lost her grip when she had been opening up the window. Unfazed, she climbed the bars once more, jumped, missed, and hit the ground hard.

Rei didn't give up though. She tried again and again, her poor body using up the all its energy as she tried to reach the porthole once more. She let out a cry of joy as she finally succeeded once more, getting a better grip now since it was open and began the difficult processes of pulling herself out of its small frame. Though it wasn't nearly as bad as squeezing through the bars, it was still difficult because of its location. She had to make sure she didn't lose grip until she was mostly out the of the window and even then, she was afraid of falling back into the small prison.

Quickly glancing around, she located the Marine ship, greatly startled when a canon ball flew over her head and missing the vessel entirely. She would have to risk being hit if she tried to seek sanctuary with the Marines. Frightened as she was, she hesitated for a moment, almost afraid of dying after enduring such agony for so long. She was pulled out of her retrieve when she hear the startled shout come from the prison room. It was Porche's voice- she'd know it anywhere.

Deciding it was better to risk swimming between the two warring vessels than to be stuck with that devil woman any more, Rei continued pulling herself outside of the boat and was readying to jump. After getting one leg out of the small porthole, placed against the side of the ship so she could boost herself off of it and further away from the ship, Rei felt those talon like fingernails of Porche wrap around her lone, vulnerable leg.

"No you don't, you little bitch!" She heard Porche screech as she tugged violently upon the small appendage, but Rei was too hyped up on adrenaline to cower.

Her fight or flight instincts quickly kicked in, causing her to thrash that one leg about in Porche's hold. She hit something hard, Rei secretly hoped it was that stupid big nose of hers, causing Porche to release her on reflex while Rei pushed herself off the boat before plummeting into the ocean.

From there, everything was relatively blurry to Rei. All she could see was that lone Marine ship that was causing such havoc upon the Sexy Foxy as she swam desperately against the ocean waves. She was barely managing to keep her head above water and moving towards her goal to focus on much else than that one ship. She knew that Porche had probably alerted everyone of her second escape and perhaps they were getting men ready to jump in after her. Her arms and legs burned with all the stress her desperate swim was causing, but she refused to look back. She refused to be captive upon that dreadful ship _ever_ again!

It wasn't till she was halfway between the two ships that she realized something was amiss. Someone should have been swimming after her by now. Foxy was a greedy bastard and he would never allow something he considered a 'gold mine' from escaping his grasps.

It was then that she actually heard the frightened sounds of the pirates, shouting something that was indecipherable to her with all the water in her ears, but when she heard the low hissing noise and the sound of water falling away from something emerging from water, she knew that the Foxy Pirates were the least of her problems now.

She turned her head, freezing in her spot upon the ocean in fright as she stared at the massive beast that had made its presence known to the two ships and the small girl between them.

A Sea King...

Unable to stop the startled scream that erupted from her throat, Rei knew she was done for when its gaze landed upon her instead of the pirate ship.

Rei looked at it with fright, all her energy sapped away from her limbs as the mighty beast lunged towards her.

She was going to die. She was going to die and it was all because of her dreadful red eyes that had gotten her into this predicament in the first place.

She cursed her eyes as she squeezed them shut, too afraid to watch the final moments of her life.

A lone gun shot sounded before the beast made it to her.

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Volleys-chan A/N: Now, I normally don't write the author notes for this story. I do help write the story, edit it, beta it, add details, or fix dialect, but I normally leave Ryu-chan to do all of the author notes, probably because I'm such a motormouth, even when I'm writing it down instead of actually talking...

Anyways, I decided to write my notes on this because of the fact that I wrote this entire chapter from scratch myself. Normally Ryu-chan writes the chapter, we go over it, I add in my ten cents, and then I rewrite the chapter so the everything is uniform in the writing style and add a few more details or a scene or two that she and I discussed in our overview of her draft of the chapter. Then she rereads it, makes sure I used the right words like 'than' instead of 'then' and 'they're' instead of 'their' in the right spots before uploading it.

This time, however, I wrote the entire chapter because I was the one that pushed for this chapter. Since it was my idea to give Rei such a traumatic incident with the Foxy Pirates, I had the unfortunate task of relaying her time with them. I was slightly vague in this chapter, not wanting to go too into details, because I would stop writing so I could curl up in the corner and tell myself that I'm actually a nice person repeatedly. I'm not violent, so I hated writing this chapter because I don't think it is right to abuse a child, but pirates obviously have different morals than me and I had to portray that (despite how much it hurt to write it).

We will never be writing a chapter like this again, just so you know.

Though it was never really said why Porche hated Rei so much, it will come back up in later chapters. Ryu-chan and I have been writing this for over a year now. More like she's been writing it and I've been poking holes into her plot line or offering my advise to her about how to further develop Rei's character, including her interactions with other characters, canon and non-canon alike. So basically, Ryu-chan's already written and rewritten this whole story up to the part where Kuma Bartholomew separates the Straw Hat Pirates. Yeah, she's that far into the story. I'm the hold back...

I'm sorry...

So all the plot twists and turns that this story will take have been planned out for almost a year now.

Anyways. I'm a bit of a motormouth, even when typing, but I am almost through writing up my notes (for a second time mind you, I accidentally deleted my first write up and now and attempting to write it all again from memory).

Thank you all for your time. Both Ryu-chan and I hope you all enjoy reading this story and will become more and more addicted the further we get into the plot line. This is a very in-depth story, practically an in-depth character study.

We love hearing from you, the audience, and will take the time to answer your questions or requests from your reviews. If you have a question for me personally about the chapter, just add it to your review and we'll get back to you. If you want to converse with me personally about something, pm me. Ryu-chan's got me on her favorite author list if you want to look me up.

Thank you for bearing with us (and my ridiculously long author notes)!

Ja Ne~

Vo-chan


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.**

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**The Dragon Chronicles**

_Chapter 3 - Legionnaires_

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"No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."

-Francois Muriac

* * *

Her legs were starting to ache, that's what she decided. There was a low throb of pain pulsating from them due to the prolonged action of standing…. Or would that not be considered an action since she wasn't moving? She wasn't sure, but after standing still in the same spot for the last few hours, her body was becoming sore from being inactive (but not) too long.

She resisted a snort at that thought. Her body hurt. Period. Standing too long and remaining in one spot for hours on end wasn't helping, but she had been aching since she got on this blasted vessel due to all the abuse her body had been put through. But pain wasn't new to her and she could easily filter it out, what was bothering her the most at this moment, besides her stiffening muscles legs, was being bored.

And she was most definitely bored at this moment. Glancing to her side, she could see the resting form of her captor, sitting comfortable in his chair while she had to stand, wrists cuffed together by kairoseki manacles, chains around her feet, and an oh-so-_glamorous_ metal collar around her neck with chains keeping her attached to that one spot on the vessel. She _almost_ was envious of the man, sitting there completely unburdened by the heavy load of chains watching as his men scurried about doing this and that.

Almost being the key word. There was one thing that kept her from feeling envy, and that was the knowledge that this man was currently plagued with something that he could not get rid of until he reached their final destination: her.

She knew he had orders to bring her in, and because of that, he couldn't kill her (no matter how much she knew he wanted to). And being the good little pirate that she was, she used every second of her time with him making his daily life a living hell.

Speaking of annoying him- she let out a heavy, over the top sigh. Gauging his body language from the corner of her eye. A smirk rested upon her lips from under her cowl as she noted the slight twitch of his black gloved hand before he started drumming his fingers upon the armrest of his chair.

She let out another sigh a minute or so later, just as over the top as the one before, waited for a little while less than before, and repeated her actions, the interval between the sighs shortening each time. She could see it in his stiffening posture that he was trying to ignore it, he was even started to clench his teeth together as a way of keeping his temper in control.

Finally, she let out the sigh that broke his control.

"WHAT!" He roared at her, jerking his head over to look at her with furious brown eyes. The veins in his thick neck budging in his fury. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT, BITCH?"

"Nothing doggy." She shrugged simply. "I merely wanted to see how long it took you to respond."

She could see his irritation level growing higher, but before he could give his retort, someone else intervened.

"Oi, oi, Silver-san," the lazy voice drew both their attentions away from each other. "Could you make my job easier and not throw Sakazuki into a rage?"

The woman looked from the man seated in the chair over to the man lying on the ground with a sleeping mask pulled over his eyes, like he was trying to sleep in the middle of the day. She vaguely wondered if he was faking it or if his devil fruit powers caused his apparent low energies or if he really was just that plain lazy.

"Don't address this pirate scum with such honorifics, Kuzan." Sakazuki sneered, ignoring the comment about his temper.

"Oh shut up, Aokiji, you're ruining my only source of entertainment on this ship," Silver snapped before returning her attention to the other man. "As for you Akainu, Aokiji knows better than to disrespect a person of my standing."

"You're a pirate whore, what's there to respect?" Sakazuki spat, venom in every word he spoke to her.

"Hunhunhun," Silver gave a throaty chortle instead of becoming angry at the magma admiral's words, humor danced in her eyes.

Kuzan had to mentally note that even though she was purposely annoying, her laugh was beautiful and velvety. However, she was a spitfire and couldn't seem to hold her tongue, especially around Sakazuki. He knew that if it wasn't for their orders to bring her back alive, she'd been killed weeks ago by Sakazuki. He had the feeling she knew that they couldn't kill her without legitimate reasons and was taking every opportunity to rub it in their faces.

"What's so funny?" Sakazuki growled at her, not liking the mischievous glint in her eyes.

"You really know nothing, do you doggy? You're just some stupid hot-headed dog of the government, doing their bidding, hoping to get a 'good boy treat' when you complete their little task, neh? Probably why you're known as Akainu- red dog- right? Cause of that volatile temper of yours? I bet even your own superiors are afraid of you; afraid that their little dog might bite the hand that feeds him."

A vein budged in Sakazuki's forehead as his temper shot up once more. Grabbing the wench by the chain that attached to her collar, he pulled her towards him, his fingers heating up as his devil powers began to activate. She didn't draw back in fear or beg for mercy, only narrowing her eyes- the only things that could be seen under the cowl they forced her to wear- as if daring him to do it.

"That's enough, Sakazuki." The magma admiral felt a cold hand upon his shoulder, warning him of the consequences if he continued to go through with the attack.

"Siding with her, Kuzan?" He sneered, tossing the woman as far away as her chains would allow from him.

"No. I don't want you to get in trouble for insubordination. It is imperative that we take her to Marineford to be tried first."

"Che," Sakazuki huffed, returning to staring out at the vast ocean before him like before.

There had been a mist earlier that morning (something not uncommon upon the ocean) and it was finally dissolving now that the sun was high in the sky. Allowing him and his men a better view of the endless oceans for as far as the eye could see. Scanning the spreading horizons, Admiral Sakazuki paused when he noticed an anomaly within their usually empty surroundings.

It was on the edge of the mist, still barely visible, but enough to make him curious. Grabbing the telescope that rested near his chair on deck, he pulled it up to his face to further inspect this anomaly. His lips curled in a feral grin when it recognized that the ship's flag was a Jolly Roger.

It was a pirate ship and he was just aching to put some in their proper place.

"Pirates," he practically purred as he pulled the telescope away from his face and proceeded to poke Kuzan with it to get his attention.

The other man sighed, taking the telescope, pushing up his sleeping mask and straightening himself so he could inspect the upcoming ship as well.

"Which Jolly Roger is that? They must be relatively new." Kuzan surmised as he studied the ship's colors a little longer before describing it aloud. "It almost looks like a fox."

"Foxy Pirates, sailing under the leadership of Foxy the Silver Fox. It has been noted as of recently that he may have attained a paramecia devil fruit- the Nora Nora no Mi, if I recall correctly. His bounty is still quite low, but he has been gaining quite a reputation in the small time he has been captain of his own ship. Not much promise as a potential seeker to the One Piece treasure. He's out of his known territory, however, so it makes me think that he has something a little bit more valuable onboard than usual, causing him to go somewhere that he can properly sell his stolen merchandise."

Both Sakazuki and Kuzan shot surprised looks upon the speaker. Though she remained steadfast in her spot, eyes gazing at the far off ship with an unreadable study.

"Selling out your own people?" Sakazuki was the first to recover from her unexpected report.

"It seems a little strange that a pirate would willing give up anything about other pirates, Silver-san." Kuzan chipped in, ignoring the quick glare shot his way by Sakazuki for addressing her so formally once more.

Kuzan was curious to why she would help them or even give them anything about another pirate ship. He knew she wasn't like most pirates, her proceeding reputation told him that, but to outright help the World Government was gravely outside her character.

"I am not a saint. I am a pirate, a _retired_ pirate mind you, but I am also a woman known for her bleeding heart." She said in a biting tone, eyes narrowed in disgust. "The only reason they'd sail this far out of their territory at this stage of their growth in reputation and numbers is to go to Sabaody."

Kuzan was the first to realize what she meant. "They're trying to go to Sabaody to sell to the slave house."

Silver nodded, her eyes still fast upon the vessel, eyes dancing in rage at the idea of someone being sold like they were nothing but property to be owned. Kuzan remembered that it was said that she had freed potential slaves on more than one occasion during her time as an active pirate. The people called her a Peace Main, much like her captain had been labeled as, but that still did not mean that she had not participated in the slaughter of men when the time called for it. She had killed Marines and pirates alike in her day, those were some of the reasons why she was to be tried rather than outright killed.

"Well that gives us all the more reason to... permanently discourage such vile behavior. Not that we needed anything more than the fact that they are disgusting pirate scum and need to be reminded of what Absolute Justice is." Sakazuki said in a dark manner, bloodlust dancing in his amber colored eyes.

Kuzan tried to ignore the dread bubbling within his chest at his fellow admiral's cruel sense of justice. Though it was from just the corner of his eye, he could see that Silver was rolling her eyes at what Admiral Sakazuki had just said. Though she had already teased him about his 'Lazy Justice', he could see that she agreed more his sense of right and wrong than Sakazuki's distinctly black and white views.

Since they weren't took well known or dangerous, Sakazuki decided to let his men handle the situation under his watchful gaze. At first, his men seemed to do a fine job at following protocol and dealing with the pirates according to regulations, but the longer the confrontation continued, the more displeased Sakazuki found himself with the men onboard this vessel. They kept shooting bullets and _missing_ the damned buggers on board the pirate vessel. Even the canons weren't hitting their mark and the other ship wasn't _that_ far out of range. Hell some of the large ammunition was clearly overshooting its mark.

It was beginning to irritate him that these men, men that had been trained to keep the peace and to pursue justice, were doing a piss poor job at it. And of course, what pissed him off more was that the blasted she-devil he was forced to escort to Marineford noticed it too.

"You seem to be getting restless, Doggy." Silver said with a happy tone. "Can't sit and watch as your men _trained_ to be keepers of the peace fail at apprehending one little, tiny pirate ship?"

Though the ship wasn't exactly tiny, it was diminutive compared to their marine vessel. There were more men upon this ship than on the pirate ship and yet it _was getting away_. Sakazuki was about to get up and take care of this whole mess in response to the female pirate's barbs when he realized that was what she wanted. For some reason far beyond his comprehension of this wench, she _wanted_ him to participate in this fight they had picked with the novice pirates. She was trying to manipulate him into doing her will! So instead of becoming her little pawn in this strange game of hers, he decided he would not do anything she wanted of him, spoken or unspoken. So, he sat back against his chair and proceeded to watch his men poorly fight the disgusting pirates. The only consolation he had about having to watch was the fact that his prisoner seemed greatly disappointed that her plan had utterly failed. She didn't say anything as she went back to quietly observing the attack, no doubt thinking of a way around this new obstacle in her path.

Sakazuki watch her from the corner of his eye, not really interested in watching his men botch up, trying to figure out what she would do next to irritated him. Suddenly, her whole body tensed, her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the pirate ship. Curiously, Sakazuki turned his attention once more to the pirate ship just in time to see a small child jump from one of the many portholes of the vessel into the water, treading desperately towards his ship.

"That must be what they were trying to sell." Silver noted in a tense tone.

"Or perhaps its just their cabin boy pretending to be their hostage so that we will decease our attack upon them in order to assist him instead." Sakazuki waved off.

"But what if it's not!?" Silver shouted, glaring at him as her form became even more tense.

Before the magma admiral could give her his response, the boat began to rock a bit from an unexpected turn within the battlefield. There, arising from the water, was a long serpent like Sea King. It had probably been disturbed or was curious by all the noise they had been making and came to see what it was. At first, its attention was upon the pirate ship, making Sakazuki smile darkly at the idea of the pirate vessel being destroyed by the ocean's own creatures, but then, its attention was placed upon something much smaller. The child in the water had let out a startled scream when it had noticed the Sea king and now it was looking at the easy prey with a predatory hunger.

"You must save that child!" Silver suddenly screamed at him, her eyes glowing with intense emotions at the thought of a small child being killed in such a horrible way.

Sakazuki couldn't help but smirk at her, eyes narrowing as he let her know that he wasn't going to do any such thing. He had finally gotten her goat and it was glorious to see how desperate she was when everything he had done prior to this had left her unfazed. He wasn't going to lift a finger to do what she wanted, even at the cost of a child's life and it'd rest heavily on her shoulders knowing she had driven him to this.

"Please!" She begged him, falling to her hands and knees as she continued to throw her pride away. She'd do anything for the sake of a child's life, even if it meant giving up what little freedom she had in return. "Please... I'll do anything you want me to! I'll... I'll stop talking to you! I'll leave you in peace! But please! You _must_ save the child!"

Though he would have loved to revel in this moment, there was unfortunately a time limit hanging over this decision. He knew that if he let the brat die, Silver would double her efforts in pestering him, but if he allowed the child to be saved, then she would be forced to shut up. However, he still wasn't going to do as she said, regardless of whether or not he was sparing the child.

"Someone get me a shotgun with one fire left." He ordered quickly, getting out of his spot and quickly approaching Silver's form and pulling her to a standing position so that he could undo her chains and unhook her manacles from each other.

"Wh-what are you doing!" She seemed utterly confused.

"If you want to save the brat so much, you do it. I don't take orders from a _pirate_. But you better hurry," He looked to see that the Sea King was getting ready to strike. "It looks like you're running out of time."

He wasn't going to save the child merely because she had wanted him to. She wasted no time grabbing the marine standard gun from the young grunt's hands, who had just arrived, and taking several long, fast strides to the railing of the metal vessel and taking her aim. She could feel Sakazuki watching her, curious at how she was going to attempt to kill a Sea King with just a simple shotgun. She ignored him, taking aim at the most effective spot to kill the creature and began to focus her haki into the gun's last shot.

She fired the moment it lunged at the child, the bullet speeding through the air at an abnormal rate as her haki amplified its power. The noise of the gunfire still echoing through the air as everything seemed to fall quiet for just the moment. The silence was broken only by the howling sound of the Sea King and its head crashed back into the ocean, dead.

"Someone go get the kid out of the water," Kuzan's voice shouted from behind her, making her suddenly irritated at him.

He could have done something while her and Akainu had at it, but instead he hadn't even said a word. She tried not to grit her teeth when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm violently and the empty firearm ripped out of her hold before her manacles were being linked back together.

"You know, I didn't actually think you'd pull it off." Sakazuki told her in an amused tone. "Unfortunately, that pirate ship got away because of the waves the Sea King made when it fell back into the ocean, but if what you said turns out to be true, the _Marines_ just saved the life of a poor innocent child who had been kidnapped by pirates." He leaned in further till his lips were at her ear, "What do you have to say about that, bitch?"

Silence was his only response, the noise of his men pulling the child up to the safety of their vessel was only white noise in his ears as he watched stare blankly ahead. Satisfaction danced within him as he dragged her back to her spot on his vessel that she was to stand while he was on deck. He chained her back up, turning to go see who the child _he_ had save was. When he had turned though, he met the disapproving stare of his fellow admiral who was now standing, awake, and very much bothering him.

"It wasn't like you did anything to save the brat." Sakazuki snapped at him. "And now we have the bonus of silence now that the pirate wench traded away her voice for the brat's life."

"Oi, I would have done something eventually if you hadn't, Sakazuki. And do remember, that if this child isn't a _cabin boy_ like you had said, I would have to make sure that you had to explain your reasons to Fleet Admiral Sengoku after I give my report. Arara, I'm sure that he wouldn't have been all too pleased to hear that an innocence's life had been forfeited for something so _trivial_." Kuzan sternly told him, a deep frown on his face as he pretty much bored holes through Sakazuki in order to make sure his point had been made.

"_If_ is a very strong key word in your whole scenario." Sakazuki told him, shrugging off the threat as he made his way down to the lower tier of his deck. "We don't even know _if_ the child is a pirate yet."

Sakazuki continued on, not caring to hear any more from his lazy counterpart. He almost wished that they had sent the light admiral to help him deal with the whole situation than Kuzan. The ice user had almost as big of a bleeding heart for children as their pirate captive. It was repulsive, especially when the child was guilty of committing heinous crimes.

"Tut-tut-tut," Silver clicked her tongue at the departing form of Sakazuki. He didn't hear her since he was too far out of her range, but then again, she wasn't conversing with him. "That man is a loose canon waiting to misfire. Anyone whose misfortunate to be around when that time comes is going to get burned. I hope it's his masters, I'll tell you that much." She paused, moving her gaze from Akainu to Aokiji. "Bluebird, you definitely confuse me, you know that? But you have my thanks. It would have done me a lot better if you'd stepped in earlier... but beggars can't be choosers."

Kuzan's lips twitched into a small smile as he looked down at the little woman who had supposedly promised away her voice. "I thought you weren't suppose to talk anymore?"

She gave out a unlady like snort as she looked up to him with a proud gleam in her eyes. "Nah. I only said I wouldn't talk to _him_ and I'd leave _him_ in peace if _he_ saved her. He totally null voided that one by giving the gun to me to save her. I just haven't informed him of that fact yet." She almost sang that last line before returning back to her normal tone. "Let him think he's won for a bit. You won't tell him, right Bluebird?"

"Not a peep." He promised without a second thought. "Arara, you definitely are a handful, Silver-san. How did Roger-san ever put up with you?" Kuzan chuckled under his breath at the thought of her cowing the most feared pirate around like he was nothing.

"More like how did I put up with that idiot." She retorted with a huff before staring down at where Akainu was now talking to the young child. "Oi, Bluebird, could you go down there and check up on the little girl. Doggy seems to be making her nervous."

Aokiji blinked as he looked down at where Silver was staring, shocked at the sudden revelation. "_Her_? The child is a little _girl_?"

"Hunhunhunhun." Silver chortled to herself as she watched Aokiji's reaction. He was already long gone, not daring to leave someone as volatile as Sakazuki with a frightened, probably crying, little girl who would probably irritate the short tempered man with her cries. "So, what kind of person are you, little draco?"

* * *

Rei coughed and sputtered as she was pulled up onto the Marine warship. She had sucked in a lot of water when the waves caused by the Sea King had submerged her unexpectedly. She was fortunate that some of the men had already been preparing to get her or she probably wouldn't have been able to keep herself afloat much longer. Her adrenaline was wearing down and she seemed to be able to register the pain that her adrenaline had somehow blocked out. She desperately wanted to cry as her nervous system pulsed with pain. Her open wounds felt like they were on fire now that she could feel again, the salt in the water having gotten into them.

Her body was greatly fatigued and damaged, but the little eight year old didn't care. She was free of those bastard pirates and was finally safe, surrounded by Marines- the good guys. Someone had gotten her a towel while she had been preoccupied with her silent suffering and thoughts and was now offering it to her so she could dry off. She thanked him as she took the towel, her stuttering and shyness had come back now that she wasn't fueled by strong emotions. She couldn't help but smile as she wrapped the large towel around her, greatly comforted by its fuzzy warmth that she had been denied throughout her long stay with _them_. Rei felt that at last she was going to be okay and be able to go home to her family where she'd be safe and loved.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a tall man dressed in a burgundy suit with a single flower in his suit breast pocket and a white marine jacket and cap approached her with a harsh look upon his face. She had to strain her head to even look at this man's unhappy, very scary face.

"Who are you and why were you on that_ pirate_ ship. Are you one of them?" He spoke harshly to her, spatting out the word pirate like it was some sort of disease.

Rei's eyes widened in horror at even being associated with such horrible people.

"I am most certainly not!" She shouted, rage fueling her words. "Th-they are horrible monsters that ki-kidnapped me from my fa-family! I HATE PIRATES! I HATE THEM! THEY SHOULD ALL JUST DIE!"

She bit the insides of her cheeks harshly, tasting the metal tang of blood within her mouth as she held back her tears, glaring up at the man who had asked her such outrageous questions. Her rage, anger, and hatred for them would not allow her to cry over it. She wasn't going to cry over anything they did to her. That bitch Porche would have won if she cried now that it was all over. It would mean that even though the bitch was far, far away she'd always have that hold on her if she cried about it. Never again would she cry or speak about what had been done to her!

She was shocked out of her anger when she saw the man grin maliciously. She realized that he wasn't aiming that malice towards her, but he was well pleased with her response. What she didn't know though was that he was reveling in the ferocity of her glare. Her eyes burned with the intensity of magma and spoke volumes of her rage and hate towards pirates. She shed no tears even though she seemed to have been terrified at her situation. She held so much promise as a potential candidate to join the Marines. He could already see her now as a Marine Rear Admiral, killing pirates and bringing Absolute Justice to the world under his command.

"I see." He simply said before relaxing his stance a bit and softening his expression ever so slightly (Rei still thought he still looked scary). "I apologize for my rash words. It wouldn't have been well if we had lost capturing those vermin while saving their ilk. I merely wanted to be sure that you hadn't allied yourself with such scum. So then, tell me, girl, what is your name so that we may return you to your family."

"S-s-swift R-rei, S-sir. My... my family was h-headed for W-w-water 7..." Rei stuttered once more, her nervousness returning once more now that her rage had been subsided by this intimidating man's words.

"Swift Rei?" He repeated before nodding. "I see. We will be sure to get you back to them safely. Now, did those low lives hurt you in any way?"

Rei paused, clinging tightly to the towel and engulfed her small, sitting shape within its size. Of course they had! But saying yes would admit to what _she_ had done to her. And she would never speak of it to anyone.

"N-n-n-no... They... th-they pulled my hair a-and fo-forgot to feed m-me th-though some-sometimes..." She managed out, glad for that because she was always stuttering out her words, that it was difficult to detect when she was lying.

"Still, such horrible things to do to a child." He shook his head, giving her his sympathy. He was about to continue his conversation with her when he noticed Kuzan making his way over to them rather quickly for the usually slothful Admiral. "Ah, Kuzan, decided to join us after all."

"I wanted to make sure the girl was alright, Sakazuki. You tend not to do well with children, especially little girls _who cry_." Kuzan emphasized the last words, reminding the other admiral of the last time he had dealt with crying children.

"Does it look like young Rei here is crying?" Sakazuki retorted, glowering at Kuzan as he gestured to the girl with his head.

Kuzan looked at the little girl, surprised at the rare, vivid coloring of her eyes. She was practically buried in the towel, which she clutched to her form like a security blanket. Though she did look nervous, she wasn't crying or making a fuss. She was merely observing them with wide, curious eyes.

"No. No, she is not." Kuzan had to say, before sighing and turning around to walk away. "Ararara, well I'm going back to sleep then."

"Actually," Sakazuki drawled as he looked back down at the girl.

As much as he wanted to take her and mold her into the perfect pursuer of Absolute Justice, he was not good with taking care of children. He didn't have the patience for it and though Rei looked relatively easy to watch, he already had his hands full making sure Silver was properly dealt with.

"I'm assigning _you_ to take care of Miss Rei's needs. After all, I need to keep my full attention on that pirate bitch we have to escort to Marineford. I highly doubt she'll be able to keep her mouth shut regardless of our agreement. Then again, pirates don't honor their word."

"More like you didn't honor your side of the agreement," Kuzan muttered under his breath so that the child didn't hear his retort. He was standing with his back to Sakazuki and Rei, but he was craning his head to look at them over his shoulder. "And since when can you order me about? Arara... I'll watch her, though I don't see why I have to do it."

He already knew why he did need to do it, but he doubted that Sakazuki had even thought of _those_ reasons when he had made his decision. He bid the little girl to follow him. She had shot up from her spot on the ground and hastily fought to catch up with him without full out running. She had to keep a fast pace with her little legs to even match the long, slow strides he made as he lead her back to where he had been taking his nap prior to her saving.

Kuzan fought to roll his eyes when he realized that even though he and the girl had left slightly before Sakazuki, that they all ended up in the same spot. Sakazuki went back to sitting in his seat and Kuzan laid back down on the ground getting ready to take another nap. He patted the spot next to him so that Rei knew she could sit or lay there. Lunch wasn't for a while more and so she'd have to wait till then to get something to eat. Besides, he figured she could use a nap after her long morning so far.

He peeked an eye open when he realized that Rei hadn't come to his side to sit down, like he had thought she would. Instead, she was staring at Silver with curiosity, confused at why there was a woman chained to that one spot.

Before Kuzan could explain it to the child, Sakazuki beat him to it with a less than proper answer to a child already suffering from severe trauma due to more hostile pirates.

"This is that pirate _bitch_ I mentioned earlier."

"Oi, oi, Sakazuki. _Language_." Kuzan scolded him, turning to look at the child whose whole expression had changed from innocent curiosity to a loathing hatred in the matter of seconds.

Rei couldn't help but glare at the woman. She was probably like _her_. That horrible _thing_ that didn't deserve the _right_ to be called a woman. All female pirates were probably just like _her_, even this one. That was probably why she was chained as she was, to protect everyone from her brutality and bloodlust. She slowly made her way to the other man, Kuzan she had heard him be called, sitting next to him as she kept her towel close to her, much like a security blanket, while never once looking away from the woman's form.

Suddenly, the other female's eyes, which had been hidden in the shadows of her cowl as she stared into the distance, snapped over to her. Ruby met gold as their gazes connected. Rei, though she still hated this woman, was startled at the coloring of the woman's eyes. They were just like hers, disregarding the color difference. They seemed to glow even though the cowl caused shadows that should have made it impossible to see the woman's eyes at all. They looked almost alive, like lightning literally danced within her golden gaze. However, Rei recovered from her surprise and gave her the darkest look the eight year old could muster before ripping her gaze away to look elsewhere.

"Cute kid." The woman remarked dryly as she turned her head back to stare at the ocean.

"I knew you couldn't keep your mouth shut." Sakazuki grumbled as he too scowled at the woman.

"Bluebird, please tell Doggy that I merely said that I wouldn't talk to _him_. Tell him I was merely making a observation to you and _not_ to him. So, I am keeping my word, _regardless_, of the fact that he didn't fulfill his end of the bargain." She said in a flat tone as she looked at neither of the two men or at the child sitting close to the ice admiral.

Just because he was annoyed at Sakazuki, Kuzan turned his head and began to talk. "Oi, oi, Silver-san says that-"

"_I know_," Sakazuki snarled angrily, his head snapping down to look at Kuzan. "I heard her! And what did I tell you about using honorifics! She's a pirate! She's a piece of trash! She's lower than the dirt underneath my boots! She doesn't _deserve_ respect!"

Kuzan looked over to the young girl, gauging her expression as she silently watched everything that was going on. Turning his attention back to Sakazuki, he shrugged and pulled the sleeping mask over his eyes. "If you say so..."

Rei was absolutely befuddled with what she had just seen. These two men, Sakazuki and Kuzan, seemed to be the highest ranking officers on the ship, since they went to no one but themselves for direction. They both spoke to each other using no titles or honorifics, implying that they probably were good acquaintances or on the same level of authority or both. However, what confused her was the level of respect both of them had for the pirate.

While Sakazuki-san held no regard for the woman, Silver as Kuzan had called her, Kuzan-san addressed her with a level of respect that made the young child very perplexed. Why would someone address a _pirate_ with respect? They were nothing like the make believe pirates in her story books where they might steal, but they never hurt anyone more than beating them at a sword fight. Definitely nothing like her sisters and she pretended to be when playing make believe in the safety of her backyard. She had seen a pirate's brutality first hand and she couldn't see anything worth respecting.

From what she had witnessed and been told by the adults of Fireworks Island, the Marines were the good guys! They were the ones that had saved her and protected her from the evil clutches of the Foxy Pirates. They were the ones that protected everyone that were ruled over by the World Government. They were the real good guys, making sure that they protected the rights of the everyday person, whether a civilian or a noble. Though Sakazuki looked a little scary, she admired him for his power and sense of justice. Pirates _were_ scum. They did deserve to be punished for their crimes.

Yawning, Rei realized how tired she truly was, rubbing her eyes with her fists that still clutched onto the towel she had been given. She wasn't about to let it go. It protected her from the ocean wind and was heated by the warmth of the sun as she slowly dried off. Deciding that since Kuzan-san was allowed to take a nap, so was she, Rei laid down, cradling her head in her arms and dozed off as well.

* * *

Rei was once again following after Admiral Kuzan, who had finally properly introduced both himself and Admiral Sakazuki during lunchtime. She had been his shadow for the whole day, following him where ever he went because she knew he was suppose to be watching her. He never really said much to her, but that was okay, she didn't feel like talking much to him and not just because she couldn't say more than three words without stuttering. She wasn't much better with Sakazuki, but that's because he was very intimidating despite the fact that he seemed to be keen on her.

She was still clutching onto the towel that had been given to her earlier that day, unwilling to let it go. She had it like it was a hooded cloak, keeping it shut by pulling the ends together with her hands. Though she had dried off long ago, no one had bothered to take it from her and in a way she was glad. She was an absolute mess under it and she didn't want people to see that. It was humiliating.

It was long after dinnertime and Kuzan was finally taking her somewhere where she could sleep peacefully through the night without worrying about if _she_ would come in and hurt her if she let her guard down. Finally he led her to a metal door in the middle of a long hallway. He pulled out some keys before finding the right one and unlocked the door. The creaking of the metal made her tense. It reminded her of her cell door when _she_ had come in, looking for her to hurt her. Being curious as to what was in the room, Rei peeked in from behind Admiral Kuzan's leg. She froze at what she saw and before she could dart away, the admiral had already scooped her up into his hold, stepping in and shutting the door before she began to do anything more than hyperventilate.

"Oi, Rei. It's just for the night." He tried to soothe her with his calm words, "because of regulations, there is no where else I can put you during the night without there being some sort of problem, you understand?"

"No!" She cried, clutching to his neck and fighting off the tears that threatened to fall. "C-can't I stay with y-you or Ad-admiral Saka-zuki!"

She didn't want to be here. Not here. _Anywhere_ but _here_. From the corner of her eye, she could see something more, causing her to panic even more. She knew who that was.

"Are you serious?" She heard her say, chains jingling as the woman shifted from her spot. "You are putting her in here for _me_ to babysit?"

"If you haven't noticed, you are the only female presence upon this entire warship, Silver-san." Kuzan told the woman, gently prying Rei's arms from around his neck as he pulled her away from his person.

"So you are going to lock a _child_ in a cell next to a _pirate_ when she's been locked up for who knows how long by _pirates_ in a _cell_." Silver seethed, apparently angry at the revelation. "Do you realize how messed up that is!"

It wasn't like Rei was too happy about this, she was freaking out, her chest felt void of all air as she weakly fought to get out of the admiral's grip before he managed to put her into the cell next to the golden-eyed woman's.

In her state of panic, she complete missed the next part of their conversation.

"You're the only one I can trust to protect her." Kuzan confided in the female pirate. "You're the only one I _know_ will not harm the child with or without cause. I can't have her in my room because that compromises my integrity as an admiral, nor can I put her by herself in a room, what if someone came in? No one would know until it was too late."

Silver stared at him a while longer before sighing in defeat. "Fine." She grumbled. "I mean, really, how hard could it be to watch a frightened, little kid whose _hyperventilating_?" She laid back down on the cot, her stomach against the mattress while she tried not to further irritate her wounds. Her shirt, which she was currently wearing backwards to preserve her dignity, was unbuttoned, allowing her back bare besides the damp, blood stained cloth that she was using to soothe her fresh wounds.

Kuzan had forgotten, especially since she never let it show during her long hours of standing with heavy chains, that she received thirty lashes as well as a sound beating to keep her weakened. He hated that they treated her like this, but it had been the higher ups orders, one that Akainu was all too happy to follow.

"Would you like me to get you something? As payment for keeping an eye on the girl?" Kuzan asked. It was the only thing he could do for her, this fallen figure that once stood for everything her captain did.

"Maybe a cup of cold water? And definitely an apple." Silver suggested, licking her dry lips at the thought to the two requested items.

He nodded, he could oblige her that.

"Yay." She said bluntly, though he could see that she was grateful. "By the way, Bluebird, I wasn't kidding about the hyperventilating part. She's, like, literally hyperventilating. You might want to calm her down a bit before she hurts herself doing that."

"_Shit,_" Kuzan hissed as he looked at Rei, who he was still holding in his arms away from his body, looking ready to have a heart attack.

"_Language_, Bluebird." Silver teased him before motioning at him to go into the girl's destined cell. "Sit with her for a while and get her a bit more comfortable with the idea. I'm chained to the wall, so leave the cells unlocked, _just in case_, and lock the door leading to the hallway."

Kuzan nodded, taking Rei into the cell and sitting her on the cot while he crouched down so he could be eye to eye with her.

"Rei." He called to her, noticing how she was despondent.

"Rei." He tried again, tapping her little cheek gently. He wasn't expecting the harsh reaction when she snapped back into reality, jerking her whole body away from him in sheer panic.

"Rei, you need to calm down, okay?" Kuzan murmured to her gently. "I will be back first thing in the morning to come get you. No one is going to hurt you here, okay?"

Rei shook her head, still shaking. He couldn't know that she had been hurt so violently. He didn't know, he was ignorant of it, but how could he think she'd not be safe anywhere but here? This was a _Marine_ ship filled with _Marines_. She was safe _anywhere_ on this ship _but _here!

"Just till morning," he repeated to her, getting up slowly to make sure she didn't freak out and try to make a run for it. "Silver-san has promised to watch you. Your cell _won't_ be locked and if you ever need to get into Silver-san's cell, hers won't be either. However, she _is_ chained to the wall. _She_ can't get out of that cell at all. Understood?"

No! Rei didn't want to be here! She wanted to be at home with her family where she was safe, _not with a pirate_! But she knew she couldn't win this. Kuzan might look lazy, but she'd already realized he was fast when he wanted to be. He'd have no trouble catching her, so instead she just nodded. She was going to have to deal with the fact that she had to stay _here_ at night.

"Do you think you can handle this, Silver-san?" Kuzan asked, slowly backing out of the cell and towards the entrance door.

Silver looked at him with a dull expression, like he was some sort of idiot for even _asking_ her that before looking at the girl on the cot on the far side of her cell. She lazily pointed at the child, barking a monotonous "sit" and "stay".

She looked back at him, a smirk hidden under her cowl as she gave a light chuckle. "Hunhunhun. She's much more obedient than Doggy. I bet I can have her doing tricks before the night is over, what do you think?"

Kuzan rolled his eyes, taking that as a yes before finally turning around and leaving the room. Both females heard the door being locked. The moment the sound stopped, Rei launched herself from her cot and into the farthest corner the cell allowed her to get from the pirate, hugging the towel like it was her only lifeline.

"Hey, look kid," Silver started, feeling bad that the girl was such a state that she'd actually do _this_. "I was just kidding about teaching you tricks. Though you might want to watch out for Akainu. He's going to try to make a Marine of you yet. Geez, the way he keeps jabbering on and on about how impressed he is about you escaping those Foxy Pirates. He says that you're brave, a fast thinker, and-"

"SHUT UP!" Rei finally screamed at the chatty female pirate, glaring at her with her raging red eyes that reflected the unadulterated hate that Silver had seen countless times within Sakazuki's own eyes. "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT PIRATE SCUM! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! _I HATE YOU! _JUST DIE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

And with that, Rei forced herself further into the corner, if that was possible at all, and hid underneath the security of her towel. Silver's eyes glazed over a bit, any spark of interest she had in the kid now gone.

"_Che_. Just another one of _those_ people." Silver muttered before resting her head in her arms, trying to get comfortable.

Rei heard her, but didn't care. She didn't even know when, but soon she was fast asleep, her day had been exhausting, despite all the naps she had had, and her body desperately needed sleep. So despite being in the presence of a pirate, Rei drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

Kairoseki-Seastone

Haki-Ambition

* * *

A/N: Oh, the 'lovable' marines have come with an imprisoned pirate. Okay, now you're probably wondering why Akainu and Aokiji are being referred formally when they talk, well, this is from Rei's point of view. She doesn't understand the significance of the nicknames that Silver is referring to the admirals, which she'll find out later. And you might also question why there's a female pirate named Silver, when there's already 'Silvers Rayleigh.' Now that will be revealed in the next few chapters. And remember that Rei's observation of pirates and marines are from the mind of an eight-year-old, so her worldview is very black and white. So please keep that in mind as you read.

Please refrain from using flames, while thoughtful comments and constructive criticism are welcomed.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece, P.L. Traver's _Mary Poppins_, Disney's 'Stay Awake' or Vienna Teng's 'A Lullaby for a Stormy Night'****. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.**

* * *

**The Dragon Chronicles**

_Chapter 4 - Speculating_

* * *

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

-Helen Keller

* * *

Rei jolted awake, it felt as if something small and round had hit her while she had slept, pulling her away from her haunted dreams. At first, she was startled, realizing she was in a cell, thinking that being rescued had all been one horribly wonderful dream and she would never be free from them.

That is, until she realized the cell she was in was metal instead of wooden and that she had been put in a cell for the night by Aokiji for some strange reason. She let out a heavy sigh of relief. She was glad that her sleep had be disturbed. Though she was safe from harm here on the Marine warship, it seemed as if her dreams were plagued by the events that had taken place for the duration of her time spent with _them_.

She pulled herself away from such thoughts, not even wanted to _think_ about the people who made her life a living hell. She focused on remembering that the Marines had promised to take her back to her family and then she could forget all about those horrible days upon _that_ vessel. Satisfied with that conclusion, Rei began to look around for what had hit her.

The lights had been turned off sometime during her slumber, but that wasn't a problem. Rei had wonderful night vision and could see far better than both her parents with only Suzume almost to par with her ability to see well in the dark. As she looked around, she was rather surprised to find a simple red apple lying a foot away from her.

"Wh-what?" Rei murmured to herself as she picked up the fruit, wondering where the item had even come from. Her eyes snapped over to the only other person in the room, vaguely remembering something about water and an apple.

Gold eyes glowed brightly through the dark, staring straight at her as the owner laid upon her stomach, arms folded under her chin as she watched Rei from her cell. Slowly she pulled out one of her arms, not bothering to move it too far away from its original position, just enough to point at the apple, eyes never wavering from Rei's.

"Fetch." She said in the same tone she had previously used when instructing her to 'sit' and 'stay' earlier that night.

Rei couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at this woman, not believing the level of audacity she seemed to posses. Fetch? Really? Did she look like some sort of trained animal to her? Rei almost scoffed at that last question. This woman was a pirate, of course she was rude and disrespectful.

However, Rei found herself staring at it thoughtfully as she decided what to do with the offending fruit. She almost took a bite of it, just to spite the woman who had tossed it at her, yet, at the same time, she was grateful that she had been woken from her ill dreams. The pirate said nothing as the young child mused what to do with her food, finally snapping her ruby eyes to the gold ones once more before chucking the fruit harshly across her cell, close to where the female pirate was.

Rei was secretly hoping that the apple would smash against the wall, making the apple less desirable to the pirate, but the older female easily snatched the apple from the air with alarming precision, before drawing it back to herself and finally taking a loud crunchy bite of it.

"Thanks kid," she said through her chewing, continuing to loudly eat her treat. "I half expected you to keep it, just because I'm a 'disgusting, low-life, scum of the earth pirate' and 'deserve no sympathy from the good-doers of society'. Guess Doggy hasn't brainwashed you entirely yet."

"Sh-shut up," Rei snarled harshly, her malice visible in her face, "I do-don't l-l-like being in debt t-t-to a pirate..."

"Don't like being in debt to a pirate?" Silver repeated curiously, licking her lips now that she had finished devouring her apple. "Hunhunhunhunhun." She chuckled at that thought. From what Rei could tell, she seemed to find something very ironic about the statement. What, Rei didn't know nor did she care to find out.

"J-just st-stay away fr-from me." Rei told her, never once withdrawing her malicious glare.

"I'm chained to a friggin' wall, I couldn't even get close to you if I tried, kid." The pirate told her, rattling the chain connected to her collar to prove her point. "Now stop cowering in the corner, hop onto the cot, and go back to sleep. Your attitude is giving me a headache."

"I'm n-not t-tired." Rei lied bluntly to the woman. It didn't help her case when she let out an involuntary yawn.

But instead of calling her out on it, the woman laughed that (despite how much Rei hated to admit it) pretty chortle, her eyes softening into a gentle look that took Rei completely by surprise. The _thing_ back on _that ship_ never once gave her such a gentle look. It made her feel, dare she say, safe.

"Alright," the tone was even different than the sarcastic blunt tone she usually took. "You're not tired. But, perhaps, you're uncomfortable sitting on the ground? The cot is much more comfortable than the hard steel floors and you're a guest of the Admirals. You should be sitting on the cot, not the ground. Go on, sit on the cot, okay?"

Rei was instantly confused, not at all expecting to hear such words come from the woman's mouth. Before she even knew what she was doing, she was sitting on the cot, finding it was indeed more comfortable than the ground.

"See? Much better, neh?" Silver asked. "Now, how about trying out that soft pillow? Go on, put your head on it."

Again, there was something almost hypnotizing about how the woman talked. It reminded her of how her mother would softly coax her and her sisters into doing something they weren't too sure about. Rei found her head on the pillow, her eyes heavy with exhaustion and her body felt the comforts of the simple cot, adding to her drowsiness. Even the pain of her injuries added to her tiredness, her mind already unconsciously knowing that she'd be numb to the aching throb that resonated through her small form.

But still, she forced her eyes to stay open, trained on the woman on the opposite side of the bars from her, still watching her with those gold colored eyes. There were two things keeping her from drifting right off and back to sleep. The first being that she didn't trust this woman at all despite how she was impulsively giving into her persuasions, and secondly was the nightmare that she had just been stirred from. She was afraid that the moment she closed her eyes, she'd relive the whole night terror again.

The woman seemed to pick up on her reluctance and instead of snapping at her or saying something witty or sarcastic like she did to the marines aboard this ship, Silver began to sing.

"_Stay awake, don't rest your head_

_Don't lie down upon your bed_

_As the moon drifts in the skies_

_Stay awake, don't close your eyes_

_Stay awake, don't close your eyes..."_

Rei had to admit, as she fought to keeping her eyelids from permanently closing, that Silver had the most beautiful singing voice she had ever heard. The soothing melody as well as the pretty singing was making it harder to hold her resolve not to fall asleep once more.

"_Though the world is fast asleep_

_Though your pillow's soft and deep_

_You're not sleepy as you seem_

_Stay awake, don't nod and dream_

_Stay awake, don't nod and dream..."_

Her eyes couldn't stay open anymore. Finally, they were closed despite how hard she tired to stir, but this woman seemed to be able to control her through her voice alone, not only talking her into getting onto the cot, but lying down, and drifting off despite herself. Such a powerful ability, Rei couldn't help but muse as her mind too began to drift.

"_Stay awake, don't rest your head_

_Don't lie down upon your bed_

_And while the moon drifts in the skies_

_Stay awake, don't close your eyes_

_Stay awake, don't close your eyes..."_

Rei was out before the last note was even sung. Surprisingly, she had no more nightmares about her time upon _that ship_ and instead dreamt of a silvery moon, shimmering stars gleaming in the heavens, billowing clouds, dark placid waters reflecting the night sky, and a gold dragon dancing upon the wind's currents.

* * *

When Kuzan came in the next morning, he had been surprised that the young girl was now sleeping soundly on the cot. He had come back sometime the day prior, after situating Rei in the cell that was to be her sleeping quarters for the duration of her time on the vessel, with the apple and cup of water for Silver.

The young girl had been asleep in the corner of her cell, as far as she could get from the female pirate, but somehow, Silver must of convinced her to sleep on the cot. Knowing the girl's obvious hatred for pirates, Kuzan couldn't help but wonder how Silver had accomplished the task, but when he had asked her, she gave him a mirthful gaze and chuckled under her breath.

He figured that she wasn't going to tell him, so he proceeded to kindly wake the child and take her to breakfast. Rei blinked up at him as she stirred, before sitting up and clutching the towel around her like she had the day prior. He had been hoping to coax the thing away from her, but she seemed desperate to keep it. He figured that she was substituting the towel for a security blanket and left the subject alone for now. Maybe tomorrow he could talk her into giving it to him.

Breakfast had not gone as Kuzan had planned. He had been hoping to have a quiet meal, making sure that Rei ate all her oatmeal and the fruit he had gotten for her, but that plan came crashing down when Sakazuki joined the two of them. It would have been fine if Sakazuki didn't manage to somehow find out that he had put Rei in the cell across from Silver's for the night.

"How could you entrust the care of a child to that bitch! She's a pirate! She's not to be trusted at all! Yet you put the child in the holding cell right next to hers and tell her to watch over the young child? Are you mad?" Sakazuki shouted at him, a vein in his forehead throbbing as he continued to chew him out.

Kuzan withheld a few choice words as the whole cafeteria was now silent, listening to what the hot headed Admiral was saying. The ice Admiral had been hoping to keep the location of the child at night a secret, who knows what ill-fortune that information could bring.

Finally, he had cut off Sakazuki, tired of hearing the other man rage at him as if he had the right to. "Arara, calm down Sakazuki. The girl is fine and Silver-san didn't do anything. My reasons are my own. If you have a problem with them, come talk to me about it in the _privacy_ of my office instead of the _public_ cafeteria."

After that, he got up as did Rei, and he proceeded to do his job as Admiral upon the warship... with one or two or twenty-three naps in between breakfast and dinner. Rei had been a very good girl, following him about and staying close without wandering off like someone her age would be prone to doing.

She seemed to have a better sense of others and what was going on around her than most children her age and could tell what was expected of her without him having to tell her. If her perception skills were this good as a child, Kuzan could only wonder how much more developed they would be as an adult.

There were a few times where Kuzan would join Sakazuki on the main deck, lying down and enjoying the feeling of the sun's warm rays. Rei would sit down beside him like she had done the day before, and silently observe Silver, who would either be pestering Sakazuki or staring off at the horizon. Rei's glances weren't as harsh as the day before's, but Kuzan could still sense her extreme animosity towards the pirate woman.

Sometime during the afternoon, Kuzan finally decided to question the child now that Sakazuki was no where in sight.

"Oi, oi, how was your night with Silver-san? She didn't give you any trouble, did she?" If she had greatly bothered the child, he would have to make her new sleeping arrangements.

The young girl gazed at him with surprise in her red eyes (he would never get over how unique and vibrant her eye coloring was if he was to be honest with himself) before musing over the answers she would give. Since she stuttered nervously over her words, she seemed to put a lot of thought into her words.

"N-no, sh-she was f-f-fine..." She finally said. "I-i-is sh-she ma-magical?"

Now that was an interesting question for a child to ask. Kuzan raised a brow, his interest suddenly on her. "Silver-san? Magical? How so?"

Rei blushed as she played with the ends of the towel. "Well... sh-she wo-woke me up last n-night a-and t-t-talked me in-into sl-sleeping on th-the cot in-in-instead of the...the floor... S-she s-s-said I wa-was a guest of the... the Admirals a-and that meant that I sh-should... be sl-sleeping on the c-cot... not the gr-ground... I-i wasn't about to... to li-listen to a-a-a pirate... but... I found my-myself doing ju-just th-that..."

It suddenly made sense to Kuzan. So that was how she did it. He laughed lightly as he placed his hand on her head, which was still covered by that blasted towel, and gave her a gentle rub.

"No, Silver-san isn't magical. She has a way with words though. That's why she's known among us Marines as Longjohn Silver, for that tongue of hers. I've heard she's managed to talk a man out of all his belongings before he even realized it, he was left with nothing but his long-johns." Kuzan told her with a small smile. "Pirate, marine, she really didn't care if they were either, as long as she got a good laugh out of their humiliation."

Rei was wide eyed at his explanation. "R-r-really?"

"Yup. That woman can talk her way out of anything. And if that fails, she'll use her wits, skills, and good looks to get her out of trouble."

Rei instantly looked worried. Probably because of her previous encounter with pirates, she was instantly worried about if Silver would use her skills against her.

"Don't worry though, Silver isn't a threat to you. You could do anything to that woman and I doubt she'd retaliate. She doesn't hurt children, no matter what."

That confused Rei, her eyebrows furrowed together as she looked at him with puzzlement. "Sh-she w-w-won't? Bu-but... she...she's a...a p-pirate..."

"Ah, but not all pirates are the same." Kuzan admitted to her. "The rules of this world aren't black and white- good and evil. There can be men that say they are upholders of justice, but do bad things... And, though I hate to admit it, there are men out there who are said to be criminals... but they do good things. No one person is completely good or completely evil... It's their actions that truly define who they are as a person and how they are raised is reflected by these actions."

He paused to gauge her level of understanding of what he had just said. He was afraid that what he had just told her would go right over her head. Most of it was philosophical and complex, but she didn't seem baffled at what he had said. The young girl actually seemed deep in thought, mulling over what he had told her as if she understood.

"B...but A-adm-iral Sa-sak-a-zuki... s-s-says..." She began her counter-argument, perhaps too afraid of what conclusions she was coming to inside her own head.

"Arara, Admiral Sakazuki has some pretty extreme ideas. I want you to think about it for a while, what I've said, what Sakazuki has said, and what you personally see, okay Rei-chan? Keep an open mind about things. People might surprise you if you do."

Rei nodded, but there seemed to be one last question stuck in the front of her mind. "I-if... if she's as good as... as you s-say..."

"Why hasn't she bothered to escape yet?" Kuzan guessed the rest of her question. He smiled sadly, surprising the girl at how upset he truly seemed to be. She wouldn't understand. He had seen her at her prime and now, so many years later, to see her as she was now... though he'd never admit it aloud, it almost broke his heart. "I guess... she's just tired of living. That fire she once had, that beautiful spark of life that once lit her eyes up... it finally flickered out. She's lost her will to live, to fight to see the dawn of another day..."

Rei stared at him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but he hoped that his words reached her. If she remained the way she was, festering in that blind hatred of pirates, she would forever be lost to those emotions and be nothing but an empty husk of anger and rage much like Sakazuki. The older he and his associate became, the more Sakazuki lost himself to his hatred. There was little left of the young man who once was trained alongside him by Marine Instructor Zephyr. He quickly snapped his mind from that train of thought, hopping off the floor in one fluid motion, startling the young girl.

"I think dinner's ready about now." He told her, and headed off the cafeteria, hoping that his words were actually true. He had no clue what time it was.

"R-right..." Rei nodded, getting up and tried to keep up with his long gait with her short legs. Though she didn't say anything to Admiral Kuzan, she wondered if he realized that they had just had lunch two hours ago and dinner wouldn't be ready till six.

* * *

It was sometime after dinnertime and Rei was stiffly following after Admiral Kuzan. She had been aching all day long, but she had forced the pain to the back of her mind through sheer stubbornness. She wasn't about to let on what had happened to her while she had been with _them_. Never. Never in a million, gazillion years! So even though she was in pain and looked like a mess under the towel that she had been using devoutly all day as a hood and cape combo all day yesterday and today, she wasn't about to voice her discomfort to anyone.

However, that was not the only reason she was so stiff. She knew where they were heading. Admiral Kuzan had pretty much already stated earlier today that he wasn't going to change her sleeping arrangements and had even told her not to be afraid of the female pirate after telling her more about the older woman. Rei wasn't sure if she should be more afraid of her or not.

While observing the enigma earlier today, she had seen the very thing Admiral Kuzan had told her about. The woman wanted to die, but she was too proud to just give up the fight entirely. If she was to die, she'd do it kicking and screaming the whole way to death's door. She could escape, but that was not what she wanted, but that didn't mean she was just going to lie there and take it without some resistance. She was like a few characters from different books Rei had read back at home.

Rei also recalled that safe feeling she had the night before and decided that she'd been safe enough with the pirate wench watching over her at night. Plus, despite the fact that they both were pirates, Silver seemed to be nothing like _her_. She guessed that she could deal with the woman for the time being. It wasn't like it was to be forever, just till the Marines could get her back to her family on Water 7, which wouldn't be _that_ long.

So despite the feeling of turning tail and running away, Rei willingly followed Admiral Kuzan into the brig and walked straight to the cell she had slept in last night without looking at either Silver or Admiral Kuzan. She hopped onto her cot, laid her head on the pillow with her front facing the wall the cot was bolted to, pulled up the sheets around her and the towel (she knew Admiral Kuzan had been trying to get it from her all day).

"Well, that was sort of a let down. I was expecting a little bit more theatrics than that." Silver's droll voice said. She could already envision the woman looking at Kuzan with a hint of disappointment that she hadn't been as unwilling as the night before.

"Seriously, Silver-san?" Admiral Kuzan sighed tiredly.

"What? It's my _only_ source of entertainment for the whole night. Now I have to figure out something else to do with all my free time."

"How about sleep?"

There was a pause in the conversation and Rei could sense that Silver was giving him that 'are you serious right now' look that she had pulled once or twice earlier today with Sakazuki. "It's eight o'clock, Bluebird. I'm not you. I only need a few good hours of sleep to keep me going, like six or seven. You know, the amount a _normal_ person needs."

Rei couldn't help but blink at the wall in surprise. What was he doing taking her here at eight? Her parents didn't even put her to bed till nine or even ten sometimes if she was lucky. Eight was when they put Usagi down to bed and Maikya was put to bed at seven cause he was a baby! Both she and Suzume could stay up at least till nine-thirty most nights, especially if Suzume got her way.

"Well, if you really need something to do, I could talk to Sakazuki and see what he might be able to extend your nightly beat-"

"Never mind." She snapped. "I just count sheep or something."

"Thought as much." Admiral Kuzan said, turning on his heel and walking out of the room. "I'll be back to get Rei-chan for breakfast. Good night. And sleep tight~."

"For you, I hope the bed bugs bite~." Silver muttered under her breath at his comment.

The moment the two of them were alone in the dark again, Admiral Kuzan having remembered to turn out the lights the first time he left, Rei could hear Silver shifting a bit. Her chains rattled as she moved, making Rei slightly curious as the what the female pirate was doing, but she ignored her curiosity and forced herself to close her eyes and try to fall asleep. Just by lying down, she felt a great relief from her battered body. It still hurt, but it was a good pain compared to what it was before.

"So, ignoring me, neh? Well, that's better than last night, I suppose." Silver finally spoke, her chains having been silenced now that she had stopped shifting about.

Rei stiffened at her voice, her injuries flaring up as her muscles tensed harshly. Rei knew the woman couldn't get to her and that she wouldn't harm her, but she couldn't help but remember the pain that _she_ had inflicted upon her. Just being around another female pirate was making her nervous, she realized.

The woman continued speaking, if she noticed the girl's reaction, she didn't mention it. "Just to let you know, clouds were rolling in pretty fast before Doggy and I headed in. Since we're in Paradise, that indicates we're going into an area between two different season islands. It causes storms sometimes, so there might be some violent waves that'll rock the boat a bit harder than usual and perhaps some thunder and lightning."

"Wh-why are y-you telling m-me this?" Rei snapped, eyes never wavering from her spot on the wall.

"So you don't freak out if the boat ride gets violent, kid." Silver told her. "It could maybe roll you out of the bed or if there ends up being a lightning storm, the thunder might get too loud and shake the vessel with its deafening boom. Or alarms might go off if lightning actually strikes the vessel. Don't worry about any of that. This is a warship after all and they are top of the line, especially ones Admirals sail in."

Again, Rei couldn't figure out why Silver was even _telling_ her this! She manage to voice her confusion once more and was shocked by the genuine sounding answer.

"Cause, you're just a little kid and you might get scared if you don't know what's going on. I mean, my boys and my lassies got scared the first few storms we sailed through. I had to hold them tight and sing to them until they stopped crying and fell asleep. And let me tell you, my boys weren't easily spooked. But they'd come tailing it over to my bed wailing when the weather got bad, perhaps it dredged up bad memories. Those two would never tell me. Hunhunhun, now that I think of it... It was probably because they were fakin' it just to have an excuse to be coddled." She paused, deep in thought for a moment before talking again. "But I highly doubt that you'll come running to Ol' Gin's arms, crying for some comforting and a lullaby, so I just thought to warn you now."

Rei stared wide eyed at the wall, surprised once more by this woman. She had kids? She recalled what Admiral Kuzan had told her about keeping an open mind. _She_ had been open about her hatred of children, yet Silver expressed fondness and adoration for them, even claiming to have a few of her own. This woman was not like she had originally thought at all.

"Ah, but listen to me jabber, my boys are all grown up. Young men that are too old for the likes of me now. And I'd be surprised if my last lass would even speak to me now..." It seemed her mind drifted off again. Rei could almost sense the woman's despair as she recalled that last encounter with her 'lass'.

"Y-you had k-kids?" Rei couldn't help but say, rolling over to look at this conundrum of a woman.

"Aye, in a way I did." Silver told her, her luminous golden eyes staring gently into Rei's now that she had managed to get the young girl to turn around. She was lying in the same position as the night before, but this time the garb around her head was missing and Rei could see some of her features through the darkness. "I can't have children of my own, but I manage to pick up a few boys and girls throughout my travels and raise them as if they were my own kin. Two boys and two girls all pretty close in age. I found them all at different times though. My boys I got at the same time, but the girls... I found them on different occasions, but they were all my children I guess you could say."

Rei could tell she loved them, just by the way she spoke of them. Not at all in the way she would talk normally, but there was a light tone in her voice and her eyes grew soft and gentle. Rei could tell that this woman loved children, especially these four.

"Say, what if I tell you a story? It'll kill time and if its boring enough for you, it'll help you go to sleep faster?" Silver suggested, a playful look in her eyes as she teased with her.

"No." Rei answered bluntly.

Truth be told, Rei didn't want to like this woman and she was coming to realize that if this woman hadn't been originally introduced to her as a filthy pirate, she might of really liked the woman. She couldn't have that. She refused to allow herself to like anyone that was affiliated with pirates. Plus, she was exhausted and her injuries still ached and she wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

Silver's expression deflated, as she looked away from Rei's red eyes. She muttered something under her breath, but Rei couldn't understand what she had said. Her eyes grew droopy after a few minutes and she lulled off into a quiet slumber.

* * *

Rei stirred from her sleep at the sound of the brig's door slamming shut. The lights were still off, so she figured that Admiral Kuzan was just checking on her. The boat was rocking a little more noticeably, just like Silver said it would if a storm did hit. Her eyes fluttered for a moment as she rolled back onto her side. She was already prepared to go back to sleep, but was instantly put on alarm when she heard Silver make a hissing noise.

"Leave her alone you rat bastard," the pirate woman snarled lowly to someone. Someone that had come into the brig and apparently for her.

"Shut it, bitch. You're next after her." The voice was unfamiliar to Rei, instantly causing her to be fully awake and her fight or flight instincts to roar to life.

However, before she could bolt out of her bed and make a run for the door, somebody already had her pinned to her cot with a large masculine hand clamped down on her throat. He was leaning down a bit to study her with a malice filled grin on his face. "I really should thank Admiral Sakazuki for telling everyone in the cafeteria where Admiral Kuzan was hiding you." The unknown man told her, making her realize that he was a _Marine_ soldier. "The very moment I saw you, I knew I _had_ to have you, consequences be damned. It was too tempting, I haven't seen a child in months, especially such a exotic one like you."

Rei's entire being was filled with fear as she grabbed onto his wrist and tried fruitlessly to claw his hand away from her throat. All that happened was that he pulled her up, slamming her already battered form against metal wall behind her so that he didn't have to stoop over to see her frightened form. His free hand was already moving towards her as he licked his lips in a hungry manner, like he was ready to devour her.

Rei couldn't even make a sound as she kicked her legs widely and clawed at his hand that was blocking her airway. She could barely make out the sounds of Silver shouting at this Marine man to let her go as well as the jingling of the chains that bound her to that cell over the sound of her own heartbeat beating loudly in her ears. However, _his_ words were coming in loud and clear.

"And with the storm outside, no one is even going to bother checking on you until after the worst of the storm has passed. Plenty of time for all sorts of _wonderful_ things." He slowly dipped his head towards hers, as if he was going to take a taste.

Rei wanted to scream, cry really, over this... this _betrayal_. Marines were suppose to be the good guys! Pirates were the bad guys! That's what Admiral Sakazuki was so adamant about in his monologues about honor and justice! Suddenly what Admiral Kuzan had said about people being labeled as good guys sometimes actually being bad while people labeled as bad were actually doing good. Was this her punishment for rejecting Silver's kindness and choosing not to see her as a person, merely as a pirate? If so, the universe hated her for some reason.

Rei smashed her eyes together as the man's face drew in closer, she couldn't watch anymore. So, just like she did when _she_ had began to torture her, she closed her eyes and willed herself numb to everything around her. It didn't work perfectly, but it had made her life on _that ship_ passable.

Suddenly, right when he was close to closing the gap between their skin, the man's head pulled away harshly as his grip on her released unexpectedly, causing her to fall back onto her cot, where she bolted out of the cell the moment she hit the thing. She had been ready to exit the room entirely, but the door was locked. The man who had entered to room apparently didn't know that the door automatically locked when it closed, too concerned to fulfill his sick and twisted needs, and had already sealed both her fate and his by doing so. She was half surprised that he was not already on top of her, _she_ would have been in no time flat, but was shocked when instead of hearing him chase or saluter after her that she could hear choking noises.

Turning her head slowly in curious terror, Rei saw the reason why he had released her in the first place. It wasn't because it was apart of some sick cat and mouse similar to what _she_ liked to play, but because he was being suffocated by thick, heavy chains that were used to bind Silver's cuffs together at night. Silver had somehow managed to quickly slip the chain around his neck right before he had even managed to touch her in any way other than that grip he had on her neck, and was using her body weight to keep him pinned to the cell bars as she slowly suffocated him.

He struggled, clawing at the chains much like she had clawed at his arm, even kicked as Silver managed to pull him off his feet with her leverage. Her feet were rested on the cell bars as she leaned back as far as she could while her chains remained tight against his neck. Finally, he started to slow his struggle before it halted all together. The man's entire being limp as Silver continued to hold him there for a minute more before finally releasing his body from her hold. It hit the ground like it was boneless, making a loud banging sound as the man's head hit the side of the cot before hitting the cell floor.

Silver was panting as she stiffly sat back down on her cot, resting her head back against the wall as she swallowed hard. Her eyes were closed as she focused on her breathing.

"A-are you okay, kid?" Silver asked after regaining her breath, peaking a weary eye open to look at her shaking form.

"Y-yes..." Rei croaked, trying hard not to cry. Her throat burned as well as felt like it was constricting as she tried to fight back the stinging sensations of tears coming to her eyes. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to cry. _She wasn't going to cry_.

"Come here, baby," Silver softly said, shifting about so that she was leaning against her pillow on the opposite side of the cot, away from the cooling body of the sick man.

If it had been earlier, before this whole event, she would have looked at Silver as if she was crazy. But now, she couldn't seem to dash to the cell, open it, and run to the pirate woman's arms fast enough. Tears spilling as two arms pulled her close to Silver's bosom in a comforting, protective manner. Still Rei was fighting back her tears as she held onto the woman desperately.

"It's okay to cry, baby. It is more than okay to cry. Just let it all out. Gin's here. You're safe with me." She cooed at her, rubbing small strong circles on her back with her fingers as she spoke. "Just let is all out."

So Rei did. She cried, sobbed really, about everything that had taken place in the recent part of her life. She cried about being ripped away from her family, she cried about the horror of watching good men like Captain Mizushima being beaten for no good reason, she cried about every minute she was on that horrible vessel with those horrible people, she cried about every agonizing second she had spent with that devil woman, she cried about her most recent scare, and lastly, she cried about how deeply wrong she had been about this woman who had saved her life.

The whole time she cried hysterically, she could feel Silver's arms around her as she rocked her to and fro in a comforting manner while rubbing soothing, firm circles on her back with her fingers. All while she hummed a gentle tune.

As Rei's crying began to simmer down, Silver decided to sing for her, the very tune she had been humming throughout the entire breakdown.

"_Little child, be not afraid_

_though rain pounds harshly against the glass_

_like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger_

_I am here tonight._

_Little child, be not afraid_

_though thunder explodes and lightning flash_

_illuminates your tear-stained face_

_I am here tonight._

_And someday you'll know_

_that nature is so_

_the same rain that draws you near me_

_falls on rivers and land_

_on forests and sand_

_makes the beautiful world that you'll see_

_in the morning..."_

Rei hiccupped softly as she listened to that beautiful voice once more sing her a lullaby. She could feel her inner turmoil, a storm in itself, starting the calm as she focused solely on the words being sung and the protective feeling of having such powerful arms around her, cradling her gently.

"_Little child, be not afraid_

_though storm clouds mask your beloved moon_

_and its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams_

_I am here tonight._

_Little child, be not afraid_

_though wind makes creatures of our trees_

_and their branches to hands, they're not real, understand_

_and I am here tonight..."_

Rei sniffled lightly and snuggled closer to the woman, placing her ear to Silver's chest and listening to her heart beating as her eyes grew surprisingly heavy. She was no longer on the edge of hysterics and felt at ease despite the previous situation that had landed her in this woman's arms.

"_For you know... Once even I was a..._

_little child, and I was afraid..._

_but a gentle someone always came_

_to dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears_

_and to give a kiss goodnight._

_Well now I am grown,_

_and these years have shown,_

_that rain's a part of how life goes._

_But it's dark and it's late,_

_so I'll hold you and wait,_

_'til your frightened eyes do close..._

_And I hope that you'll know..._"

Silver quickly rearranged the two of them so that both of them were lying down, Rei cradled between Silver's body and the cell wall in a protective manner.

_Everything's fine in the morning..."_

Rei's eyes finally close, a soft sigh as she buried her face into Silver's bosom.

"_The rain'll be gone in the morning..."_

Silver gently stroked her head before planting a soft kiss on top of Rei's crown of raven locks. Finally finishing her song with something that sounded more like a promise to Rei than lyrics to a song.

"_But I'll still be here in the morning..."_

* * *

A/N: For all who have been waiting for this chapter, I greatly thank you for your patience. There were some 'motivational' problems to get this chapter going, causing this to get updated a week later than it should have been up. So the first thing you might noticed are the songs that Silver sung. Volleys-chan and I found these two songs to be fitting for the scenes in comforting Rei, who especially needs ease from the last scene. And as for the scene of Rei almost getting raped... Volleys-chan and I don't like such violence to a child, but we wanted to demonstrate that there's an 'bad apple' among the group that's considered good and it's plausible to what can happen to a child on a warship. We're thankful that Silver took quick action to save Rei in good timing. I hoped you were still able to enjoy this chapter despite of the 'dark' circumstance Rei almost went through. Oh, 'Gin' was not a mistake, Silver's pirate name is 'Longjohn Silver' but we have yet to disclose her full given name which will be revealed next chapter as well address _why_ a name from an infamous pirate.

Imaginary cookies to the ones who can guess the names of the two boys that Silver talked about. And extra cookie points if you can guess one of the girls' names. Hint, hint, both boys are canon and one girl is canon as well. :) I hope to hear from you.

I have to say thank you to btran6, Tamamo no Mae, and Son of Whitebeard for liking this story. Till then, look forward to the next chapter everyone.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.**

* * *

**The Dragon Chronicles**

_Chapter 5 - Divulge_

* * *

"I am a storyteller. The type that went from place to place, gathered people in the square and transported them, inspired them, woke them up, shook their insides around so that they could resettle in a new pattern, a new way of being. It is a tradition that believes that the story speaks to the soul, not the ego... to the heart, not the head. In today's world, we yearn so to 'understand', to conquer with our mind, but it is not in the mind that a mythic story dwells."

-Donna Jacobs Sife

* * *

The child was out like a light, exhausted by all the horrible twists and turns that seem to be taking place in her life recently. If she could just take this child and wrap her up in her arms and protect her from the harms of this world forever, Silver had no doubt she would. However, she already knew that she was a dead man walking.

It was only a matter of time before her clock ran out and she was executed publicly at Marineford. Or if she tried to escape this ship, she'd be either be killed in or for her attempt. One way or another, Longjohn Silver had to die. So Silver already knew it would be impossible to protect this girl and shield her from the world's terrors, but that didn't mean she couldn't offer solace for as long as she was able.

She had literally spent the last few hours contemplating this very thing. How can she right these wrongs done unto this child? How could she protect her even after she was gone? Silver snorted at the irony of the situation. Not even hours ago, the child hated her merely because she was a pirate and now she was curled up in her arms, clinging to her like her very life depended on it.

Yeah, this whole thing was messed up, but Silver couldn't push away a child in need. Never. Especially one of her own ilk. So now she just needed to figure out a way to help this child heal from all these tragic events that had been happening to her.

She finally decided to do what she always did when taking a new child under her care and try to do it for as long as she was able to.

Silver was quickly pulled from her thoughts when she heard the brig door being unlocked. The worst of the storm was probably over now, if the softer rocking of the sea vessel was any indication, and it was no doubt Aokiji coming in to check on the child. She didn't bother moving, her arm that the girl was using as her pillow was numb from the girl's dead weight and Silver felt like giving the ice admiral a good scare when he came upon the conclusions of the night's horrible events.

He didn't seem to notice anything was wrong before flicking on the lights. Silver smirked into the girl's hair when she heard the tall man choke on nothing, no doubt his heart having stopped for a fraction of a second when viewing the corpse of the pedophile in the cell Rei had been put in last night.

"Silver-" He began in a urgent tone, but cut himself off when Silver shifted and revealed the young girl in her arms.

"She's safe, now anyways." Silver told him in a stern tone, returning to her original position. "But that hadn't been the case a few hours ago."

Aokiji let out a heavy sigh of relief as he leaned against the frame of the door. He ran his hand through his hair as he forced himself to calm down from his earlier scare. When he had first seen the body, he had automatically thought the worst and was even unsure if Rei was unharmed or dead as well.

"What happened?" He finally asked her, coming further into the brig and shutting the door shut with a heavy slam. He didn't want people to hear this conversation.

"What do you _think_ happened?" Silver snapped waspishly. "Some sick bastard came in here with every intent of raping the girl. I told him to leave her alone and when he didn't listen, I managed to wrap my chains around him and suffocate him. If I could have done more, I would have. Hell, if I could have snapped his neck while choking him to death, I would have."

"And after that?" He prompted, gesturing at how the girl who proclaimed to hate pirates came to sleep in the arms of one.

"She's a scared, little girl," Silver snarled in a low, protective tone as not to wake the child. "She's not a big, tough marine. She needs to be held and comforted when shit like this happens to her."

Aokiji nodded with a sigh, running his hand though his hair again. "I understand. Arara, what trouble. Is she unharmed at least?"

"He was choking her, but other than that, he didn't harm her from what I could see." Silver reported. "But I was too busy attending to her mentality that I wasn't really looking. Give me a sec."

Silver sat up, pulling the girl in her arms up along with her, and placed her in her lap. Rei stirred slightly from the movement and her eyes opened drowsily, not at all lucid to what was going on around her. The first thing Silver noticed was the state of the girls tangled locks. It was a complete rat's nest and it seemed to be twisted and tangled into something that would make it impossible to salvage.

"Hey, Bluebird, I need you to make me some hair shears." Silver said, holding out an expecting hand while her other hand played with the tangled locks to see what was salvageable.

"You want scissors?" He asked skeptically, unsure if he should trust her with anything sharp.

"Her hair is a mess. Trust me, it'll be easier to just cut it. Or do you think you can properly cut a little girl's hair into a decent hairdo?"

Aokiji didn't argue any further, merely sighing and muttering 'arara' under his breath as he used his powers to make a pair of hair shears out of ice. He handed them to Silver in semi-reluctance and watched with mild frustration as she observed the ice made scissors.

"Do you get bored some days and just _decide_ to practice making scissors or what?"

"I find imitating objects and making my ice versions just as usable as a good way to refine my abilities and to control my powers. Is there a problem with that?"

Silver looked up at him, a smile on her face as her eyes danced with humor. "Hunhunhun, I honestly can't see you practicing. You always seem too busy taking a nap to practice anything."

Aokiji chose to not reply to her comment, instead watching as she nimbly started to use one hand to run her fingers from the scalp of the child's head to as far as the tangled mass of hair would allow before clipping off the rest of the black locks. As soon as the tangled mass was cut off the Rei's head, Silver held out her hand again asking for a ice comb to help her finish fixing the girl's hair. He did so without question and watched as she transformed the uneven hair into a cute layered mass of short, wiry locks. The haircut was boyish and wild, but it greatly improved the girl's appearance.

"There we go~" Silver said proudly as she observed her work from her position. Rei was slowly becoming more cognitive than when she first had woken and blinked owlishly when she realized that Silver had cut her hair. "All better now! Now we can see that pretty little girl under all the mess."

Rei tentatively reached up to touch a few tresses of her hair to gauge what Silver had done to her.

"It's so short." Rei mused aloud, blinking curiously as she ran the fingers of one of her hands through her hair.

Aokiji didn't miss how calm Rei appeared to be in the presence of the pirate woman. Yesterday, she couldn't be in the same room as the pirate without getting really tense and never letting her out of her sight, but now she was sitting comfortably in the woman's lap and speaking uninhibited by that nervous, shy stutter of hers. Secretly, he was glad of the results of last night's affairs, though if he could, he would have tried to reap the same results though much different means.

Silver, who Aokiji knew was about to give the child a teasing retort about why the child's hair was so short now, suddenly lost all humor in her expression as her eyes caught sight of Rei's little hand. Aokiji was about to ask the woman what the matter was, but he had lost his voice as well when Silver snatched both of the little girl's hands and held her wrists while forcing the girl's palms open with her thumb and pointer fingers. Rei was suddenly struggling as she tried to pull her little hands out of the woman's firm grip, letting out frightened cries of 'no' as tears pricked in the corners of her eyes.

Silver flipped Rei's hands over a few times as she studied the cuts that littered the girl's hands ranging from long, shallow cuts to short, deep gashes that were red from irritation and what might have been the beginning of an infection from not being treated properly. Aokiji watched in mild horror as Silver began to pull the girl's sleeves higher to see where the trail of cuts ended, which wasn't far past the girl's wrists; however, deep and horribly large bruises began to take their place.

Silver took both of the girl's wrists in one hand as she began to pull up different parts of Rei's clothes to see where these bruises began and where they ended all while Rei fought against her as violently as the child could. Rei howled in desperation as she tried to stop the woman's probing hands from discovering her pain and her shame. Her pleads for the woman to stop fell on deaf ears as Silver took inventory and Aokiji watched stiffly with disbelief and horror in his eyes. Rei felt tears of frustration run down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her secret shame was now known as she wanted nothing more than to hide under her cot in embarrassment.

Silver finally whipped her around so they were facing each other and as Rei slowly opened her eyes, her face flushed from crying and embarrassment, she was suddenly enraptured by the look in Silver's eyes. They burned. They burned with fury, with understanding, with protectiveness, and, most of all, with life. So much life burned in those previously tired golden orbs that it startled Rei out of wallowing in self-pity. She couldn't help but stare wide-eyed right back at the woman.

"You." Her voice was tight, as if she was trying to restrain back all of the fury Rei could see in her eyes. "You cover your ears and if I _ever_ catch you repeating what I'm about to say, I promise you that you'll wish you hadn't."

Rei instantly slapped her hands over her ears, nodding viciously as she stared at Silver in mild horror, not even wanted to _know_ what would happen if she disobeyed the woman. Silver, on the other hand, whipped her eyes to Aokiji's startled form, eyes still full of that fury as she _glared_ at the man darkly.

Then, she proceeded to cuss him out, violently and loudly.

Though Rei would never tell Silver, covering her ears didn't help at all. She heard every single word because of the older woman's sheer volume of shouting and felt sorry for Admiral Kuzan who all the woman's wrath was pointed at. She also felt slightly bad for lying to him and Admiral Sakazuki about the severity of her injuries, but according to Silver, who was lecturing him between just flat out cussing at him, it was _his_ responsibility to make sure she was alright.

_"- not just take her damn word about it! She's eight years old, damn it! She's been abused both mentally and physically for who knows how friggin' long! Of course she's not going to tell you the shitty truth!"_ She could hear the pirate clearly shout through her covered ears.

Did Rei mention she felt really bad for Admiral Kuzan? Cause she did. She never wanted to be on the other end of her anger ever. If she hadn't already traumatized her by shouting horrible things to her, Silver might have. But she had never brought it to the same level that Silver was currently taking while she swore Admiral Kuzan up and down and _was she cussing in a different language now?_

Surprisingly, Admiral Kuzan stood there and took it as the female pirate raged at him. He looked embarrassed by his mistake, irritated that a _pirate_ was chastising _him_ over proper protocol, and perhaps disconcerted at what Silver was screaming at him. Rei couldn't tell because Silver had been switching languages every time she ran out of words to scream at him in the language she had been using. Rei vaguely wondered how many languages the woman even _knew_ and how many of the languages Admiral Kuzan could actually _understand_.

After about forty-five minutes or so, Silver finally calmed down enough to reign in the rest of her fury and ended her rant filled with chastisements, threats, different languages, and oh so many swear words- more than enough to make a sailor blush from the indecency of some of them.

"Now," Silver huffed in a raspy tone, her voice tired from her shouting, "Go take her to the doctor, get her checked out, and get her cleaned up. And whatever the hell you do before, during, and afterwards, don't you _dare_ speak a word of what has happened to this girl to that _bastard_ Akainu."

"Arara," Admiral Kuzan finally said with a heavy sigh. "You do not need to tell me _that_ twice."

Kuzan knew that if Sakazuki got wind of the girl's abuse, he'd try to use that to strengthen the girl's hatred of pirates and unknowingly damaging the child's delicate psyche even worse than what the Foxy Pirates had. Though he couldn't withhold the information of what happened in the brig, he could at least withhold the origin of her wounds and allow people to come to the conclusions that her wounds came from her struggle against the dead marine before Silver managed to step in.

"Arara, it looks like I have more work to do. And I was hoping to take a nap now that the storm finally settled." Admiral Kuzan sighed as he rubbed the back of his head lazily.

"Poor baby," Silver snapped, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She shifted Rei in her hold and standing up with Rei resting on her hip. Kuzan had to admit, it was an impressive feat with all the injuries Silver had for her to be standing while carrying the extra weight of a child without looking remotely in pain. "Now quit your whining. You have no right to complain. Now start leading the way to the infirmary."

"You're coming?"

"No, I'm just holding the kid because its _fun_." He could tell she was in a lot of pain, but the child was unaware and that was how the pirate wanted her to remain. "Stop being stupid and unchain me from the wall and let me out for my daily walk. I've been a very good girl and deserve a treat. Just don't forget to hold the leash tight. If you let go, I might be gone forever."

Apparently she had issues about how Sakazuki handled her transportation. Then again, Sakazuki probably played it up as a way to get back at Silver for all the dog jokes and analogies she made at him all day. For Sakazuki, it must have been poetic justice to lead Silver around by the chain attached to the collar around her neck like she was a 'real bitch'.

"Huh, same thing happened with my dog when I was a kid." Kuzan teased as he entered the cell and, using his skeleton key, unlocked the chain that kept her confide to the room.

He held the end very loosely, knowing full well she wouldn't run. She didn't have a reason to run and she wouldn't get far if she did run due to her injuries and how much she was already pushing it by carrying the child. Plus, she seemed to have decided to protect the child and would do nothing to harm her. Even Rei seemed oddly attached to the woman despite what her feelings had been the day before.

He would run damage control later, after taking Rei to the on staff doctor and making sure she was tended to and cleaned up. It was still ridiculously early for this sort of thing- _way_ too early in his opinion since he hadn't gotten any sleep since there had been such a bad storm that had required both Sakazuki's and his attention. Hopefully, he'd be able to get a nap in sometime soon or else he would not be responsible for his actions later on today. Silver had already eaten up all his patience with her rather foul, but understandable, outburst. If Sakazuki pissed him off, there was no telling what he might do being this tired.

With one last sigh, Kuzan lead the duo to the infirmary and prayed that Sakazuki wouldn't cross their path till much, much, _much_ later in the day. He also hoped that the doctor wouldn't be too irked with him waking him up a such an awful hour of the morning to look at the little girl he probably should have take to two days ago.

He had a feeling he was going to get chewed out again. He just knew it.

* * *

Rei silently ate her lunch next to Admiral Kuzan. She wrapped her white bandaged fingers around her utensils and carefully ate her food as to not get any on the new clothes she wore. Well, they were new for her, but according to Silver, who had spent a hour or so adjusting them to fit her, the outfit had belong to her more tomboy of a lass. Admiral Kuzan asked her why she would even have such a outfit still in her bags, which he had allowed her access to under his direct supervision, but Silver merely shrugged and told them she had a feeling she might need it again one day.

Rei was glad she did, secretly. If she hadn't held onto the hand-me-downs, she would have had to try to deal with Admiral Kuzan trying to find something small enough for her to wear in place of her old, ratty clothes. And in all honesty, these clothes were even nicer than the ones she had been wearing even before her abduction. Silver had even managed to adjust the size of a old worn leather jacket she had and by pulling the sleeves inside the jacket and sewing the armholes shut and the sleeves to the inside of the jacket, had made her a nice little cloak to wear around outside while shadowing Admiral Kuzan. She even had a headband that wrapped around her head and kept her wild locks of hair at bay instead of flying whichever way they wanted to go.

Rei nearly beamed when Admiral Kuzan had allowed Silver to give it to her because upon the middle of the band was a beautiful round and smooth red jewel that gleamed prettily in the sun. It wasn't the fact that it might have been a costly gift that made Rei so happy to receive it, it was the idea of receiving something from someone who showed her such gentleness and kindness when the rest of the world had shown her no mercy in recent days.

Silver wasn't as bad as she had thought at all. In fact, she really did like the old pirate woman who showed her such gentleness and care. Rei honestly felt abash by her behavior beforehand towards the witty woman and was glad that Silver didn't hold it against her, merely teased her about it in a friendly way. She even thought the woman's snarky comments and way of addressing the admirals were funny, though she would not be admitting it to either aloud.

"Is your food good, Rei-chan?" Admiral Kuzan's voice broke her out of her musings and the girl looked up to him to look him in the eyes. Silver was no longer with them because Admiral Sakazuki finally came to retrieve his responsibility and deal with the whole fiasco that took place in the brig while Admiral Kuzan was left to watch her and gauge how badly the traumatic event had affected her.

If that _thing_ aboard _that_ ship couldn't break her, then some random psychopath wouldn't be able to with one harsh action like choking her. Perhaps if the events hadn't turned like they had, she might have been far worse, but right now, she felt remarkable happy now that her injuries had been tended, she had been washed, and now was wearing something clean.

"Un! I-it's v-very good!" She told him, inwardly wincing at the stutter she couldn't seem to shake around the tall, lazy looking man.

It wasn't as bad as it was with anyone else, especially Admiral Sakazuki, but Rei couldn't seem to shake her stuttering completely around any of the marines. She could speak full, clear sentences to her parents, her siblings, and even to Captain Mizushima, but everyone else made her nervous. Well... Silver made her feel safe. She wondered if she would actually stutter if she attempted to speak to the woman alone.

"That's good." Admiral Kuzan nodded, pointing at her hands with his utensil. "And your injuries?"

"T-they don't h-hurt too m-much... Not l-like be...before." Rei answered quietly, her gaze falling away from the ice admiral's.

She was still touchy about that and both of them knew it. Rei had still been dazed by that look in Silver's eyes when they had taken her to the infirmary, but the moment the doctor tried to take her out of Silver's arms to examine her, she broke out of her stupor and began to struggle once more. Silver had been the only one in the room who seemed to know what to do with an outburst like this and sat down on a cot, with her still in her arms, and held her still until the doctor was finished with his examination of her.

"That's good." Admiral Kuzan said again, nodding once more. "Now, I know it is not for a long while yet, but, would you be alright if I took you back to the brig for Silver-san to watch you at night? Or would that be too scary?"

Rei looked at him in slight horror. She wasn't scared of being in the same room as where the man had died, she was terrified at the idea of not being in the protective care of Silver.

"P-p-please... I-I-I-I wa-want to st-st-stay there!" Her stutter came back with a vengeance due to her terror. "S-S-Silver... Sh-she s-saved m-m-m-me. I-I-I-I-I wa-wa-want t-t-to st-stay wi-with her!"

"Arara, very well. I can't argue with that. She does seem to have a knack when it comes to saving your life." Admiral Kuzan nodded as he took a bite of his food and ate for a moment before continuing. "I mean, this is the second time she's saved your life after all."

Rei blinked in confusion, unsure at what the admiral had meant and thought back to when Silver had saved her before last night. She was drawing up a blank and it was obvious by her expression. Admiral Kuzan seemed to realize what he had said and sighed in frustration at his slip, tossing his utensil onto his plate, now finished with his food. He might have liked Silver well enough to respect her, but that didn't mean he wanted to paint her as the hero to an impressionable young girl. Perhaps he hoped that she wouldn't pursue the subject any further, but Rei couldn't keep her curiosity at bay.

"W-w-w-what do yo-yo-you mean?" Rei asked him, also setting her utensil down and focusing entirely on him.

He let out another sigh, looking around the room quickly to take inventory of how many people were there before he said anything about this incident. Admiral Sakazuki was still on deck making Silver stand for the rest of her day in the harsh sun and most of the other marines had cleared out by the time they had gotten to the cafeteria for lunch. They were pretty much the only people in the area and Rei knew he couldn't weasel his way out of answering this question.

"Ararara, such trouble." He bemoaned one last time before rubbing the back of his head like he did when he was irritated or felt put out. "Silver-san has saved you twice now, last night being the second time."

"A-a-and th-th-the f-f-f-first?" Rei prompted nervously, not sure if she really wanted to know.

"The first time being when you first got here. Silver-san had begged Sakazuki to spare your life from the Sea King. He thought you were just some pirate cabin boy playing decoy and wasn't about to be distracted by the bait." Admiral Kuzan explained to the child. "Silver-san argued that you were probably a prisoner. In a very strange play of events, he allowed Silver-san a chance to save your life by offering her a gun with a single bullet to shoot the Sea King before it got you. And I think you can assume the outcome of that action."

Rei stared at him wide eyed. She owned her life, not once, but twice, to a pirate. If her fate had been originally left in the hands of the marines on board this ship, she might not have made it. Perhaps Admiral Kuzan _might_ have saved her, either acting too late or having been taking a nap at that time, but if Admiral Sakazuki had gotten his way originally, she would have been dead over a foolish mistake. Her respect for Silver suddenly went up radically while her respect for the two admirals dropped significantly, Admiral Sakazuki's more than Admiral Kuzan's. She knew he would have at least tried _eventually_.

"O-oh." Was all she managed to say, not sure how to respond to that.

Admiral Kuzan let out another sigh and muttered his favorite saying of 'arara' as he picked up both his plate and hers and got up from the table to take them to cart where the dirty dishes were placed after every meal. Rei followed him, regardless of her sudden decrease of respect for the man.

He was still her guardian during her stay with the marines and that would not be changed by one or two bad acts of judgment. However, she now wanted a chance to talk to the older female and perhaps get to know her instead of just ignoring her. If she was willing to save her _twice_, especially the second time after she treated her so badly, perhaps she wasn't as bad as Rei originally thought she would be.

Maybe the world really wasn't as black and white as Admiral Sakazuki had been telling her it was and it was more like how Admiral Kuzan described the world, a place filled with different shades of grey. Rei decided that she would indeed keep an open mind to the idea of not everyone who is labeled bad actually being bad and not everyone who is labeled good actually being good. It was their actions, intentions, and honor that defined them, not what society labels them as.

Those seen as heroes could lie and deceive others into believing that they are good, but only time would reveal their true character. And perhaps those who get labeled bad are sometimes merely misunderstood or put in bad situations that paint them as the villain in the eyes of society when all they were trying to do was the right thing.

Who was good? Who was bad? Who could be trusted? Who could not? These were questions that Rei now found herself trying to answer. She knew people like _those pirates_ were bad, but also that people like _that marine_ were not good. The two admirals had completely different outlooks on good and evil, but did that make Admiral Kuzan good because his involved mercy and kindness when the lines between the two opposites blurred or did that make Admiral Sakazuki bad because he had none for anyone, even the innocent, when that blurry line was crossed in his eyes.

Rei realized that this was something she would have to decide for herself: who was good, who was bad, who to trust, and who to not. She would have to keep an open mind, however, in order to make the right decision and trust her own judgement of people instead of second guessing herself or listening entirely to other's opinions.

She could only hope that she would choose wisely from this point on.

* * *

Daytime could only last so long and soon Rei found herself being led to the familiar door of the brig. This time, however, she wasn't filled with dread. She knew what had happened in there, and though she wasn't over the whole event, she was looking forward to seeing, and perhaps talking to, Silver again.

Admiral Kuzan opened the door, keeping his eyes on her all the while to gauge her reaction, and was slightly surprised at her willingness to go in. Though he was happy she wasn't about to hyperventilate like before, he was not necessarily thrilled that Rei was making friends with the pirate woman.

Gold eyes immediately landed on the pair as Admiral Kuzan led Rei to the cell on the opposite side of Silver's, farther away from the previous cell where it had happened. Rei was glad for that. It would have made it a lot worse if she had to be in the same room where she had been attacked.

"You sure she'll be safe in here after _last_ night?" Silver spoke to Admiral Kuzan, her eyes following Rei as the girl entered her new cell and hopped up onto the cot.

"I'm pretty sure that _no one_ is going to try _anything_ now that Sakazuki has made it _very_ clear what the punishment would be if they survived _you_. If anyone other than me _does_ come in here, I doubt they will want to live through what you'll do to them afterwards." The ice admiral replied with a yawn, turning around and heading back out the brig room door. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I missed out on a lot of sleep and wish to make up for what I can. Arara, I dislike storms."

"Good night Aokiji~. Hope you'll catch up on that sleep, cause you're cranky when you're tired!" Silver called out to him teasingly before the lights were flicked off and the door was slammed shut.

Though both of them were suddenly left in the dark, it was nothing like the previous two nights were Rei was frightened out of her mind by the only other being in the room. She didn't mind the dark and it seemed neither did Silver. Her eyes instantly seemed to glow the moment the lights were turned off, like every time before, but this time Rei wasn't afraid of looking the pirate woman in the eyes and was enraptured slightly by how the color seemed to dance like a lightning bolts within her pupils. Perhaps her eyes weren't golden, but instead living pools of contained electricity fighting to escape their prison. It wasn't enough light to chase away the darkness, but enough to make her eyes stand out in the dark no matter how far away she got.

"So are we having a staring contest or something or are we still not on speaking terms?" Silver finally broke the silence.

Rei blinked, finally pulling herself away from staring mindlessly into Silver's gaze. She blushed slightly as she looked away for a second and took a deep, calming breath, trying not to let her stutter choke her words to death.

"I... I... I wa-wanted to... to... to th-tha-thank yo-yo-you fo-for..." Rei closed her eyes in frustration as she pretty much had to choke out ever stuttered word in order to even speak to this woman.

"Hunhunhunhun," Silver's gentle laugh washed over her and soothed her fraying nerves. Though the older woman was laughing, it didn't seem to pointedly at her or her inability to speak, but by the fact that she, the little pirate hater, was trying so hard to thank her, a pirate.

"Relax, kiddo," She said to her in a kind tone. "You're trying too hard here and getting yourself all nervous for nothing. Now, I want you to take a deep breath and hold it." Rei did as the woman asked, inhaling the deep breath loudly so the woman could hear it. "Good. Now, feel all that pressure building in your tummy? Feels sort of like those butterflies that overtake your stomach when you're nervous?" Rei nodded yes. Her stomach always felt similar to this when she got super nervous. "Good. Now let out all that air in one slow breath and feel all that pressure vanish from your tummy as you do." Rei followed her instructions and indeed find herself calmer than before and no longer had jitters in her stomach. "Feel better, right? Now, whenever you get scared or nervous, just stop, do what you just did, and try again."

Rei nodded before swallowing, taking one last deep breath, and started again. "Thank you. For saving me."

"See? Not hard at all, neh?" Silver beamed at the child who was shaking her head no. "And, you're welcome."

Before Rei could stop herself, she blurted out: "Both times."

Silver stared at her with a surprised look, but eventually it smoothed out to a knowing look, her eyes simmering with the knowledge of where Rei had received such information. "Bluebird squawked about a few things he shouldn't have, hmmm? Doggy and I were probably on deck at that point or Akainu would have been having kittens over it. Hunhunhunhun, that would have been funny to watch though. I wonder who'd win in a fight? Magma or ice? Probably Akainu, he's too ruthless of a dog and Aokiji is too gentle of a bird. Too bad. Aokiji is a much better man than Akainu..."

"W-why do you call them that?" Rei asked.

She had been curious about it the first time the woman referred to the two as such, but had never bothered asking before because Silver was a _pirate_.

"Hmm? You mean Akainu and Aokiji or Doggy and Bluebird?"

"Both names. Why do you call them those names?"

"Eh," Silver shrugged her shoulders, "A lot of people call them that, mainly pirates or revolutionaries though. You see, there are three Admirals, actually, that are known as colored animals. Sakazuki is known as Akainu, red dog; Kuzan is known as Aokiji, blue pheasant; and the last one, the only one of these three admirals _not_ on this ship, is Borsalino, who is known as Kizaru, yellow monkey. I just like taking those aliases and making my own pet names out of them. Doggy, because it pisses Akainu off; Bluebird, because Aokiji reminds me of one; and Crazy Monkey, because I highly question Kizaru's sanity."

Rei stared at Silver in confusion. "W-why-" Rei cut herself off, scowling down at the cot in frustration at how her stutter was inhibiting her ability to speak _again_. She didn't have a problem with her parents or her siblings or even Captain Mizushima! Why did she get so nervous or jittery or shy around others that caused it to surface? Silver was probably getting annoyed with her because of it.

"Deep breath when you catch yourself stuttering. It is important to speak clearly, kiddo." Silver told her patiently, not at all put out by the problem.

Rei blinked, realizing that Silver was looking at her with kind, patient eyes, eager to hear what she was trying to ask. Rei nodded, taking a deep breath once more before letting it out slowly. Her stomach felt better again and she felt she could continue talking without a problem.

"Why do people call them that?"

Silver smiled at her through the dark, showing Rei how proud she was that she didn't stumble over her words that time. It was greatly encouraging to Rei as well, who hated her constant stutter with a passion.

"There is an old legend of a boy named Momotarō, who, with the help of a talking dog, pheasant, and monkey, overtook a demon fort."

"And he was found by a childless woman washing her clothes down by the river, floating down the river in a giant peach! But they didn't know there was a boy inside until both the woman and her husband opened the peach to each it!" Rei beamed excitedly over the familiar story of Momotarō. She use to read this story out loud to her sisters from a book full of folklore when her mother had been too busy to read to them. She couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Admiral Sakazuki and Admiral Kuzan being referred back to the characters of the old folklore.

"Very good! Yes. That would be the story." Silver nodded with a pleased gleam in her eye. "I don't know who started it, but ever since, people, even some marines, have called those three admirals by those nick names."

"But why not just call them Inu, Kiji, and Zaru? Why add the colors?"

"Because of their abilities as devil fruit users. Each ate a different logia devil fruit that gave them very powerful abilities. Sakazuki consumed the Magu Magu no Mi, allowing him to change his body into magma- if you haven't already noticed. Kuzan consumed the Hie Hie no Mi, giving him the power over ice. And Borsalino consumed the Pika Pika no Mi, allowing him to control the powers of light energy, including allowing him to change himself into a light being to move at the speed of light. So because of their abilities, they were named accordingly."

"Aka for the magma, Ao for the ice, and Ki for the light, making their names Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru." Rei finished for her, proud at herself for understanding.

Silver nodded, smirking as she shifted slightly in her cot. "Yep. You're a pretty smart kid, ain't cha?"

"Un!" Rei beamed, scooting closer to the bars that separated their cells. She was no longer nervous as she spoke to the gold eyed pirate, feeling completely at ease with her. "My papa says I read better than most of the adults on our island and that I'm much better with my numbers than most of the others too!"

"I see." Silver nodded. "I should have figured that when you knew of Momotarō. I bet you love reading all sort of books if you're willing to read that old folklore."

"Un! I read all sorts of books at the library, but Papa won't let me read a couple of them because he says I'm not old enough." Rei pouted at that thought. "I really wanted to read '_Illiad_' and '_Odyssey_' too..."

"You wanted to read those? Geez kid, I couldn't even get my _captain_ to even listen to me read those books to him. He would start whining about all the big words and say something stupid like 'a man shouldn't read about adventure, he must go discover adventure' or something stupid like that.

"Then he'd seize up my boys, one in each arm, and, if we were currently at port, take off with both of them underarm, shouting how they must go on an adventure with him if they were ever to become men." Silver let out an irritated, but reminiscent, sigh as she thought fondly back to those days.

"My little Shanks would be all rearing to go, shouting words of anticipating and excitement, but my little Buggy would be howling with fear and wouldn't stop crying until I came to rescue him from Roger, though he denies ever crying after I had rescued him. Hunhunhun, he wanted to look tough for his dear Gin."

Rei blinked, realizing that she had heard Silver say that name before, but the details were a little foggy because of what had been happening at the time. "Silver-san, you've said that name before. Who _is_ Gin?"

"Hunhunhunhunhun," Silver chuckled lowly. Her eyes glowed mysteriously for a moment before she decided to answer her question. "My _pirate_ name, given to me by Marines, is Longjohn Silver, kiddo, but that doesn't mean it is my real name, just like Akainu and Aokiji are not Sakazuki and Kuzan's real names. My name, my real name that was given to me by my mother seven days after my birth, is Kaneko Gin. So, dear one, I am Gin and I'd prefer it if you called me by that name."

"Oh..." Rei blinked, understanding filling her eyes. She couldn't help it when the small giggles escaped her throat. "But your name is Gin! That _means_ Silver, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Gin snorted irritatedly. "My mother wasn't much more creative than the marines."

"Nope." Rei giggled a bit more. "She named you Goldchild Silver."

"Again, not the most creative woman. Then again, I think she did it on purpose. My father could never figure it out for the rest of his life. He had a pretty decent name though, I almost wish _he_ had named me instead of my mother, or at least wish my mother had given me his surname, but then again, that might have been dangerous."

"Why? What was it?"

"My father was a well known pirate called Captain Flint. While my mother was more of a nomad at the time, she decided that she would join my father for a season or two on his ship the _Walrus_ and see where the relationship went. She ended up staying with him and his crew until my father died when I was roughly seventeen.

"It was a pretty sad day when we had finally parted ways with the men of the crew because it was all I had known for the better part of my life. My father had told me many times as I grew up that I was born as wild and as free as the ocean itself and would, with no doubt in his mind, never allow myself to be tamed by any man that was not just as wild and free. He had even made me his quartermaster by the time I was fifteen and I did a bang up job at it, if I say so myself. I was my father's right hand man up till the day he died."

Rei stared at her confused at the mention of the position. "But quartermasters are basically navigators that are hired on by the merchant ships and government ships. Even aboard a ship like this, they have no power outside of steering the helm and navigating..."

"That's true for most quartermasters that sail the seas, but on a _pirate_ ship, the quartermaster is pretty much in charge of everything so that the captain can focus on properly leading his crew. I took care of the discipline, the stock, and even finances at times. If the captain was not aboard the ship, I had command of it. I would have even taken over command if he was no longer fit to be captain of the ship."

"Really?" Rei was shocked to hear such a different role for the same position that Mr. Jackson had on Captain Mizushima's vessel.

"Really truly," Gin confirmed. "Pirates run by different rules than Marines or civilians. We rule ourselves. Each ship sails under its own rules. With pirates, those who rule are the toughest of the tough, while with Marines, people can climb ranks through petty things like bribery. You gotta be real tough shit out there in the pirate world to make it anywhere, and that's what makes pirates all the more dangerous."

Rei listened to every word the woman spoke, bewitched by her ability to weave everything into a story. She had never expected a pirate to be so well spoken, especially one that didn't mind using words that weren't really proper words like 'ain't' in their sentences for no other reason than she could.

"You're really good at talking." Rei finally told her.

Gin blinked, taking a moment to absorb what the young girl had told her, before letting out a bark of laughter. "Huh huh huh huh! Yes! I am quite good at talking, aren't I? I'm glad that you think so though. I wouldn't have been much good to my crew if I wasn't. Upon Roger's crew, I was not only their quartermaster but I was their dancer, singer, and storyteller."

"You were their storyteller?"

"Yes. My mother taught me the skill when she and I began to travel alone after my father's death. She taught me songs, dances, stories, and tricks to use when beguiling a man out of his goods. And when I became apart of a crew once more, I used my talents to boost the moral of my crew. If a story didn't work, I'd sing them a song and dance for them. It was my job, on top of being their quartermaster, to make sure their spirits were high and to keep them entertained.

"You should have seen some of Roger's parties. They were something and he use to tell all the other men that it was because of his dear Gin that his parties were the best in all the seas. I could sing, I could dance, I could spin one hell of a tale, I was not too bad with a fiddle either, and I could drink all of them right under the table! And in the morning I'd bust all their hides for oversleeping and neglecting their morning chores.

"Hunhunhunhun, they didn't like my singing too much the morning after, but that was their own damn fault for thinking they could out drink me. Hangovers are a bitch, kid. And someone singing when you have one is not fun at all. Ah, good times, good times~..."

Rei couldn't help but giggle. Sure, Gin used some words her mother would never, ever approve of being spoken around her, but Rei could easily ignore the words after her long stay with _them_. Gin, who had closed her eyes as she reminisced some more, peeked one open to look at the giggling girl, a pleasant smirk spreading across her lips.

"You like my idle chit-chat, hmm? Well, perhaps you would prefer a full fledge story? I use to tell stories to my kids before bed. Then they'd all beg me for at least _one_ song, which never really was just _one_ song, as they lay in their beds and were lulled to sleep by the sound of my singing. I bet my boys and my lassie can _still_ remember every song, every tune, and every verse and recite them by heart. Probably the stories too." Gin told her.

Rei perked at the idea of a story. She loved stories and though she had rejected one the night before, she had only done so in order to preserve her animosity towards the woman. Any of that hatred had long disappeared and Rei desperately wanted to be treated once more like a little child who was loved tenderly by a motherly woman. Her mother was far away and Rei didn't know when she would see her again, but Gin was here and she was more than willing to fill the role in her mother's absence.

"Could I..." Rei trailed off shyly as she nibbled on her bottom lip and looked away from Gin's face.

"Could you... what?" Gin encouraged her, her voice gentle and kind, like it always was when Rei needed it to be.

Rei took a deep breath as she met Gin's gaze once more. "Could I sleep with you while you tell me a story? _And_ sing me a song that isn't really going to end up being just _one_ song?"

Gin let out another laugh at the girl's last comment. She apparently thought that Rei was clever and witty for using her own words against her. If anything, it proved the girl was paying attention to what was being said to her.

"Yes," Gin nodded, rolling to her side so that Rei could snuggle up to her when she entered her cell. "You very well _can_ do that."

Rei nearly sprinted to her cell door in her excitement and quickly found herself hopping into the familiar embrace of the retired pirate woman, who welcomed her with open arms. Rei snuggled into her, ducking under the chains of the manacles and made herself comfortable as Gin settled her chin over Rei's head.

"Now... let's me think. What would be a good first story, hmm? Hunhunhunhun, I know. You have heard of the Pirate King, no?" Gin asked, looking down at the top of the child's head as she waited for a reply.

"Pirate King? Who's that?" Rei asked curiously. She and her sister use to _pretend_ to be the queens of the seas or pirates, but they never knew that there was a _real_ king of the pirates.

"Who's that..." Gin repeated her words with disbelief. "You mean to tell me you've _never_ heard of the Pirate King or his great commission?"

"No... Is that bad?"

"No. It just means you're really not in tune with the rest of the world. Where do you come from, kid? Everyone's heard of the Pirate King!"

"My family and I live on Fireworks Island." Rei told her. "We were going to Water 7 because that's where my papa was born and grew up."

"And Fireworks Island isn't much into what's going on around the world as long as they can survive off of the tourists their fireworks bring." Gin told her, understanding in her tone. "Alright then little one, allow me to tell you the tale of a man. A man by the name of Gol D. Roger, who became King of the Pirates, and conquered the Grand Line. It all began on an island known as Loguetown in East Blue. Now the story doesn't start like most, no, it starts when Gol D. Rogers met the man who would be his first mate and loyalist of friends, Silvers Rayleigh..."

* * *

Inu-Dog

Kiji-Pheasant

Zaru-Monkey

* * *

A/N: Again, thank you for your patience to all whom have been waiting for this chapter. The chapter was delayed due to Volleys-chan taking a vacation in the state I live in, which she needed some relaxation as well fun hang outs with good friends. :) So about this chapter, I'm hoping you're enjoying Silver as much as I am. How Silver came to be was Volleys-chan wanting a famous pirate that would directly fit into One Piece in both name and reputation. And that's how 'Longjohn Silver' was born. Volleys-chan and I have thought of such a character should be gender bended, since there isn't a lot of famous female pirates and the name seems to be fitting for a woman anyway. No intentions of being feminist! A little female charm doesn't hurt in the world of pirates that is mostly populated by the male gender.

Thank you Shiningheart of ThunderClan, Tamamo no Mae, and btran6 for taking the time to guess the boys' and girl's names. The boys were Buggy and Shanks. :D Plates of cookies of your favorite kind! And for the girl's name, I'll wait a little later to reveal the name. ;)

Till next time, see you in the next chapter everyone.


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece, Loreena McKennitt's 'The Mystic Dream', J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold' or Howard Shore's 'Song of the Lonely Mountain'. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.**

* * *

**The Dragon Chronicles**

_Chapter 6 - Conferring_

* * *

"If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten."

-Rudyard Kipling

* * *

Silently, Rei began to long for the days to speed by, waiting almost impatiently for when she was put into the closed quarters with the pirate woman and instantly be whisked away to the places Gin's stories took her. She'd tell her tales of Gol D. Roger, otherwise known as Gold Roger, and Silvers Rayleigh, as known as the Dark King, and her personal travels with the two. She told stories about her boys, Buggy and Shanks. About how the two of them never seemed to agree on anything and would argue or fight to try to prove to the other that they were right, which always ended with either her or Rayleigh having to discipline the two when their shenanigans got out of hand.

Rei loved hearing about those two in particular because the stories about them were definitely the funniest, though there was a story or two about Gold Roger that had her holding her aching sides from laughing so much. She even told a tale or two about her two lassies, but they were more well behaved than her boys.

Gin also had stories about much more than just her former crew. It seemed that she had a story for every type of occasion that Rei could even think of. If Rei asked a question, like why a elephant had a long nose, instead of giving her an actual answer, Gin would tell her the story of how the elephant got his long nose. If she pondered why there were different seasons, she had a story for that too. The stories might not have always been realistic, but Rei didn't care, they made her laugh and smile and forget the woes of the world.

And, it wasn't just stories that Gin knew a plethora of. She knew all sorts of songs as well and she could sing all of them beautifully. Rei's favorite that she made Gin sing over and over again was Binks' Sake. The song was so upbeat and joyous that Rei couldn't help be love the catchy tune, exasperating Gin sometimes because of how much she loved that one melody. Gin took the time to teach her the words and tune to several songs, a few that were very odd and cryptic songs with hidden meanings. Rei tried to ask her why she wanted her to learn these songs, but Gin would shake her head and merely tell her that she would understand in time. Rei memorized them only because they seemed important to the woman.

Gin would tell her stories, talk with her, and do anything the little girl wanted when they spent their nights together. Sometimes, Gin wouldn't start up a new story right after finishing one. She would lie there, cuddling the small child and giving her affectionate touches, much like a mother would.

"Gin." Rei murmured sleepily one night. "Are you _sure_ you're a pirate?"

"I'm sure. Why do you ask?"

"Cause you're really, really nice." Rei yawned, curling further into the older female's hold. "You seem more like a mommy than a blood thirsty pirate."

"Hunhunhunhunhun, Doggy's been yapping your ear off again about pirates?" Gin couldn't help but smiled at the man's futile preachings about 'all pirates are evil scum' to the girl.

"Sometimes." Rei admitted, "But... he's not wrong about all pirates... I mean... the ones that stole me were mean and... and..."

Gin hushed the child gently as Rei slowly became distressed about the whole horrible ordeal she had survived. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Rei shook her head violently, pulling her little hands further to her chest as if she was keeping them protected from whatever had been done to them. Her fingers still wrapped in white bandages as her wounds slowly healed. Gin hushed at her again, cradling her close as she tried to calm the girl down. Hot tears were slowly drenching her clothes as the girl began to cry into her bosom.

"It's alright. You are safe now. Far, far away from them and in the protective custody of the Marines and myself. As long as I have breath to breathe, you will not be hurt again." Gin promised, whispering the words into the child's ear.

"I hate them! I hate them, I hate them, _I hate them_!" Rei sobbed as she finally used her hands to cling tightly to the woman's clothing.

"Tut-tut-tut," Gin clicked her tongue at the young girl's response. "Hate is a very powerful emotion."

"I don't care. I hate them with every fiber of my being."

Gin frowned at that remark. Now, she wasn't a saint and she did hate a few people in her life, but not as fervently as this child before her. Her hate resembled more of Akainu's active version of hatred than her more passive. It worried her because Rei was such a sweet a loving girl most of the time that this level of hatred was nothing but a festering wound in her soul. If someone didn't treat this wound upon her heart, it would eventually eat at her until she was exactly like Akainu.

"I know they did you wrong." Gin spoke gently to the child. "I know that they deserve to be hated for what they did to you, but I think you need to let go of your hatred of them."

Rei's face shot up so she could look the old pirate woman in the eyes. Gold clashed with red as the child stared at her with disbelief. "Wh-what?"

"You heard me." Gin told her, "let go of your hatred."

Rei couldn't believe what Gin was telling her. She was a pirate! Shouldn't she be telling her to feed off of her anger and become stronger so one day she could get her vengeance? Letting go of her anger was not even something she had considered to be an answer.

Understanding the girl's confusion, Gin decided to elaborate now that she had the Rei's attention. "I can see it in your eyes. You want revenge. You want them to feel exactly like you did. But you see, the problem is, revenge is an empty promise. Hatred is like a festering wound. It infects the body and slowly kills it and anger is an agent that only further spreads that infection throughout the body. It feeds on your soul, eating away at your happiness and joy. After a while, all you can think about, dwell upon, is the object of your hatred.

"You'll eventually seek out revenge, thinking that if you finally get back at them for what they did to you, you'll feel better, you'll be okay, and you'll be able to move on with life. But you won't. Revenge will leave you feeling empty inside because after all that time, all that energy focused on that singular goal, you have nothing now that it has come to an end. Your life was spent on that one goal and now that you have achieved it, there is nothing left to live for. It makes you the very person you hated, if anything." Gin explained to the child in a sad, quiet tone.

She had seen several people she had considered good friends go down that path and in the end, after they had succeeded, they often took their lives shortly afterwards. "So I'm telling you now, Rei, let go of your hatred. In the end, it doesn't harm them as much as it harms you. In the end... they still win if you hate them with all of your heart." She paused, letting a smirk tug at the corner of her mouth. "And you're not about to let them win, are you?"

Rei sniffled, wiping her tears away with her arm. She thought about what Gin had said and didn't like the depiction of where her hatred would lead her in the long run. She didn't want to be obsessed with _them_, dwelling on _them_ far longer than she should. Gin was right. In the end, they would win if she became obsessed with thoughts of revenge and hatred and it would only really hurt her. It was hurting her now to hate them because every time she thought of them, she could remember _everything_ that _thing_ had done to her. She would never let them win. Never, ever, _ever_. It might take a while, Rei knew she couldn't just _let go_ so easily, but she was going to let go of her hate.

Rei looked at Gin with a new look of determination as she shook her head in response to her question. Gin merely grinned wider. "Good girl."

"But I'm not promising that I can ever like them." Rei told her stubbornly.

"Hunhunhunhunhun," Gin chuckled lowly. "I don't expect you to. You can dislike them all you want, just don't let your heart fester in hatred. That's all I'm asking for kid. However~" A sinister smile crossed her lips as her eyes danced dangerously. "Don't _dwell_ on thoughts of revenge, but _if_ the opportunity should arise, there is no need to pass it up."

Rei blinked at the last statement, surprised at how sinister the usually kind and gentle pirate woman could look. However, Rei wasn't scared of her or worried about how the last words didn't exactly line up with anything her mother would have told her. Instead, she let out a small laugh.

"That's sorta cheating, isn't it?"

"I'm a pirate. I play with loaded dice." Gin retorted smugly.

Rei only laughed more. Gin was definitely what her mother would not call a good influence, but Rei couldn't help but idolize the crafty woman. She was wise, kind, fun, wild, caring, strong, protective, _beautiful_, and completely and utterly free. Rei wanted to be just like her.

Gin let out a few strings of laughter herself, however, she eventually sobered up. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? It'll help, I promise."

Rei frowned, shaking her head no. Gin sighed, "Alright kiddo, I'll let it go, okay? But," Gin interjected, "I am telling you now. One day, you've got to tell someone, okay?"

"O...okay." Rei sighed, giving in just a little bit. She wasn't ready to talk about it yet, but she would keep an open mind into telling _someone_ _someday._

"Good girl." Gin purred, kissing the crown of her head.

"...Can... can you sing a song?"

"Of course." Gin smiled. "I have a special one in mind. I will sing it to you and afterwards, you are going to learn it, okay?"

"Okay."

Gin took a long deep breath. Eyes closed as she recalled the words of the song.

"_A clouded dream on an earthly night_

_Hangs upon the crescent moon_

_A voiceless song in an ageless light_

_Sings at the coming dawn._

"_Far over the misty mountains cold_

_To dungeons deep and caverns old_

_We must away ere break of day_

_To seek the pale enchanted gold._

"_On silver necklaces they strung_

_The flowering stars, on crowns they hung_

_The dragon-fire, in twisted wire_

_They meshed the light of moon and sun._

"_Her fate unknown, the Arkenstone_

_What was stolen must be returned_

_We must awake and make the day_

_To find a song for heart and soul_

"_Nestled in the emerald moss_

_The eyes declare a truce of trust_

_And then it draws me far away_

_Where deep in the desert twilight_

_Sand melts in pools of the sky_

_When darkness lays her crimson cloak_

_Your lamps will call me home_

"_And so it's there my homage's due_

_Clutched by the still of the night_

_And now I feel you move_

_Every breath is full_

_So it's there my homage's due_

_Clutched by the still of the night_

_Even the distance feels so near_

_All for the love of you."_

Rei blinked. It was a very strange song and the tune changed from time to time but the entire time the song was slow and somber in mood. She didn't understand its meaning either. 'Nestled in the emerald moss'? 'The dragon-fire, in twisted wire'? What in the world?

"That song makes no sense." Rei finally said. "It almost sounds like someone made up it up on a whim."

"The man might have. But he taught it to me for some reason and I am deciding to teach it to you. If he taught it to me, it must mean it is important." Gin explained to Rei.

"Okay... I'll learn it..." Rei agreed hesitantly. "But then, afterwards, can you sing Binks' Sake?"

Gin let out her beautiful laugh. "Yes, after you learn the song, I will sing you Binks' Sake. Now. The first verse- A clouded dream on an earthly night..."

And so began a long night where Rei learned another strange song. One she would not be able to forget, no matter how much time passed.

* * *

After a few nights, it seemed that Admiral Kuzan caught on to the fact that Rei enjoyed her time with the pirate woman, and, though he wasn't all to concerned with Silver trying to escape, he assigned someone to sit in the brig at night and monitor the situation, just in case. Silver was there, so he wasn't concerned about the marine endangering the girl, and the marine was there, so Silver couldn't influence the child in less than reputable ways.

At first, Rei was nervous about the male entity within the brig, but when she realized that Gin wasn't at all bothered by the man, Rei began to calm down and pretty much ignore the quiet man. He would always bring a book and sit on a chair and mind his own business. He didn't bother stopping Rei at all from going into Gin's cell. He merely watched her do it before going back to his book. Gin, to Rei's surprise, didn't even bother the man, instead investing all her time on Rei until the girl finally fell asleep, which took a while since Rei purposely had naps with Admiral Kuzan during the long day so she wasn't as tired at night.

"Hey Gin," Rei asked the golden eyed woman one night shortly after lying down next to the pirate woman on her cot.

"Yes, little one?" Gin murmured lightly as she tried to get comfortable on her stomach.

"Where did the devil fruits come from? What are they, really?"

"My, what a curious question. Where did such a curiosity about such a thing come from?" Gin asked, glancing down at the red eyes of the young child with a mirthful gaze.

"It was something that Admiral Kuzan said earlier to him." Rei pointed over to the man reading his book. He glanced up when Rei referred to him, but as quickly as he did, he went back to reading his book.

"Oh? And what was that?" Gin asked, looking coyly to the man she had purposely been ignoring during her nights with Rei.

"Admiral Kuzan said that he had a lot of potential because of his excellent control over his devil fruit abilities. I've heard about them before - by you even- , but I don't really get what it is all about."

"I see. So you thought that I might have a story to fulfill your inquisitive nature?"

The girl didn't even hesitate to say yes. Gin allowed her pretty chuckle to escape her throat as she wrapped an arm around Rei's small form and brought her closer to her so she could cuddle as she told her tale. It was a delightful feeling for Rei, to be held so gently and know those arms were strong enough to protect her. She felt safe in Gin's arms and she knew that she would always feel that way.

"Well, once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there were humans who could manipulate the elements. People called them mages, though that wasn't what they were truly. They could only do so by making contracts with devils and with those contracts, they became a medium for the devil's powers.

"Those who knew about the devils' contracts were usually very tight-lipped, paranoid individuals, fearful that others would learn of how they had gained their unique abilities and attempt to kill them to take their place in the devil's contract. You see, a devil could only make one contract at a time and once its channeler died, it was free to make a new contract with someone else."

"Why?" Rei interrupted the story.

"Why what?"

"Why make a contract with humans? If its a devil, wouldn't it use its own powers to do whatever it likes? Why share?" Devils, after all, were always depicted as greedy creatures that only did things that benefited them. The elders from her island had already told her that.

"That is a very good question." Gin beamed proudly at the girl. "You see, the answer is simple. While devils are greedy creatures that only think of themselves, they were trapped. There is a gate that links this world to theirs, but they could not get through and they desperately wanted to."

"Why?" Rei asked, her brows furrowed with confusion. "If they had their own world, why did they want to come to ours?"

"Because they had ruined their world with their lack of discipline. It is a burning world where nothing grows and nothing has a pleasant taste or aroma. They live their lives there, paying for their greed. In fact, it is said that they can not experience deep feelings or emotions beyond the undying desire to feel such things. So, by making a contract with humans, they could experience these things through their contractee."

"Well... if not everybody knew about it, why does everyone know now? Devil fruits aren't exactly a secret, you know."

"Indeed they are not." Gin agreed. "It was because of one foolish man who was as greedy as the devils themselves. He and his brother had come to know of these devils through a man they looked up to as their master. He taught them about devils and the discipline they would need in order to control their given powers. One had attained the power to unlock anything and the other had the power to contain and bind energy to objects. Their master had the ability to create weakness.

"One day the foolish brother decided that he wanted another devil's contract. No one, you see, had ever attempted to be the conduit of two devils before because of the immense amount of energy it took to use their powers. But this man wanted more. The problem was, he couldn't use the same trick he used to make a contract with the first devil. He needed to go to the source in order to invoke another contract, so he had to find Hel's Gate. It was a well known fact that a different group of people knew the location of the gate, but would refuse to share such delicate information with the humans that shared their world. But somehow this brother found out.

"He found Hel's Gate eventually, and went to the threshold that separates our world from the devils' world. He then used his ability to unlock it."

"Unlocked it?" Rei's eyes were wide at that information.

"Yes, using his abilities given to him by his devil. You see, the gate was impossible to unlock on the devil's side of the gate, but not on the our side. The brother opened the gate so that he might ask another devil for a contract, but instead gave the devils what they had most wanted: their freedom from their decaying world. The brother was suddenly overwhelmed and killed by the devils as they began destroy our world like they had done theirs. Fortunately enough, both his brother and master, both good and wise individuals, had realized the foolish brother's intent and had come to stop him. Though they were too late to stop him from undoing the lock, they were able to minimize the damage that the devils would do by turning their own powers against them.

"Quickly, the master cursed the devils to be intolerant of the ocean, unable to touch water without being sapped of all their strength and forced to sink like a hammer within its contents. Though some attempted to fly away before the man could continue, the wise brother proceeded to use his ability to bind the spirits of the devils to the form of a simple fruit. Upon doing so, all those who held a contract with the devils suddenly died as well, their punishment for tying their lives with the devils who were now bound in the produce of the island's trees.

"Soon these fruits, though how is not exactly recalled, found their way off the island and spread across the ocean. Those who eat the fruit create a contract with the devil inside. By eating it, he accepts the devil within his own body as a benign parasite. The devil, now cursed to be a fruit when it is without a medium, experiences nothing. It feels nothing, hears nothing, sees nothing, tastes nothing, and smells nothing. It is quite aware of that and so, despite its grudging reluctance to give away its full powers to the one that consumes its earthly binding, it does so, if only to prolong its life in its host.

"Within its host, it can feel what they feel, know what they know, experience life as they experience life and the vast array of emotions that come with life. They know it is better to live as nothing but a benign parasite than dwell in nothing as a fruit. You see, if the one who ate the devil fruit dies, the devil's spirit must take form of a fruit once more."

"Wow!" Rei couldn't help but gasp. "Devil Fruit users must be unstoppable!"

"They are and yet they aren't." Gin informed her. "You see, the only downside to consuming a devil fruit is that, though they are mainly benign within the host, it comes with a heavy cost. The user too is weak to the things the devil is weak to. Whoever eats a devil fruit loses their ability to swim and becomes weak and rendered useless when in water or exposed to sea stone. A heavy cost for a powerful ability. It is an equal exchange."

"Equal exchange?" Rei looked at Gin confused.

"The world requires balance. If it is thrown out of balance, then either the world attempts to put itself back in balance. If not corrected, it will begin to rot and decay, much like the world of the devils. Too much on either side of the spectrum can cause monumental problems."

Rei was startled greatly when the marine answered her question rather than Gin. She craned her neck over her shoulder to look at the man who she had thought was reading and minding his own business. The man was watching the two of them with keen eyes, his quiet and stoic disposition never faltering even as he continued to speak. "The world requires equivalent exchange in order to function. That is why the devils world fell into decay, was it not? Because they did not honor balance?"

"You are indeed correct." Gin acknowledge him calmly, not at all surprised by his unexpected participation. "I thought you were listening. You haven't turned the page since I began my tale."

The man nodded, his reserved expression never leaving his face and his tone remained calm and cool. "You have quite an interesting arsenal of stories. I much prefer hearing your tales over reading a book I could read another time. Your stories offer much insight into the world and its history and mythology."

"Hunhunhunhun," Gin let out a soothing chuckle as she rubbed hard, soothing circle's in Rei's back. The girl was listening warily to the pirate woman and marine's conversation, not sure what to make of the man now that he had finally spoken to them. "A wise man for looking beyond my title and seeing me for _who_ I am, not _what_ I am."

"There is no doubt that you do not participate in the rules of normal civilization, opting to make up your own rules as you go along, as most pirates do, but that does not mean that you did not pave your road with good intent. Your wisdom and knowledge is not any less greater because of your reluctance to follow the social rules of the common people." He pointed out.

"Indeed." Gin agreed with a mirthful look. "However, don't let your superiors know that's how you feel, marine, or you might get in trouble."

"I know when to express my opinion and when to keep it to myself, Silver-san."

"What's your name, marine?" Gin asked, much to Rei's surprise.

"Drake." He said simply.

"You would definitely be someone worth keeping an eye on." Gin said mirthfully. "I can already tell you'll be something great one day."

"That is my hope." Drake nodded. "I recently passed my captain's exam. I am merely waiting for either admiral's letter recommendation to give to the fleet admiral to finalize the promotion."

"Well, Sengoku would be a fool not to give you the ranking of captain." Gin gave out a small wiry smile. "You obviously have a good, level temperament, able to speak to a known pirate without any contempt. You keep an open mind, which is good when dealing with petty crimes. Your posture tells me that you are strict with personal discipline, but your eyes tell me you're as gentle as a lamb when the situation allows you to be. Hell, give me a pen and paper and _I'll _write you a letter of recommendation."

"Though I am flattered you think so highly of me, I cannot help but doubt that Fleet Admiral Sengoku would be very pleased with me if I handed him a letter of recommendation from a pirate. No offense, Silver-san." Drake shook his head gently, politely declining the woman's offer.

"You'd be surprise by what my opinion of a person could do for them. Sengoku, Garp, and I go way back, laddie." Gin sighed. "I'll make sure that Bluebird gets you that letter. Even if I have to bug him about it."

Drake frowned slightly, confused at the pirate's odd kindness. "Why do something so kind to a man on the opposing team?"

"Because I'm not _against_ the idea of good men working for the betterment of the world. I'm _against_ the misuse of power and the inability to do what needs to be done because of stupid rules or regulations preventing such actions from being taken." Gin answered hotly. "Now take my words as a damn compliment upon your character and don't ask such skeptical questions."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you ma'am." Drake gave one firm nod of his head before the whole room fell into a comfortable silence.

That is, until Rei decided to ask for _another_ story. Gin let out a small laugh, before looking up and asking the young marine Drake if he would pick out a theme for the story to have.

"Gluttony." Drake responded, watching her in quiet anticipation for the upcoming tale. The pirate woman was truly entertaining, as he had said previously, and he couldn't help but listen to her tales with enraptured attention, much like Rei could not tear her eyes away from the woman as she spoke.

"Alright. Gluttony." Gin nodded, already having a perfect story in mind to tell to the two. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a small breath of air before reopening her eyes to begin her tale.

"Once upon a time. Not too long ago, there was a little girl. She was much younger than you, barely five, but she had always been very independent, even as a small babe. Now, even though she was five, her favorite thing to do was go into her mother's garden and pick berries, apples, cherries, peaches, anything that was sweet to the taste really, and either eat them in the shade of a tree or take them home so her mother could bake them into desserts. She would sometimes eat and eat until she got a tummy ache, but once she got better, she always was out looking for more sweet things to pick from her mother's garden.

"One day, her mother left the house on a short visit, only to return with a pretty fruit that the little girl had never seen before. Her mother told her that she had gone and retrieved it just for her, encouraging her to eat it. Though it was nothing the little girl had consumed before, she could smell that it was sweet and took a small bite. She took another bite bigger than the last. And another and another and another and another until she had consumed the whole thing. It had been the sweetest tasting fruit that she had ever had the pleasure of eating. Instantly, she asked her mother for more, but her mother shook her head, telling her that the fruit was special, offering her very unique abilities, but she could only ever have one or else."

"Do devil fruit really taste that good?" Rei interrupted the story.

"No. Devil fruit taste like decay and rot, much like the produce that the devils' world had. This story isn't about devil fruit." Gin shook her head.

"So... there's another fruit that grants power?" Rei cocked her head to the side in confusion. She had never heard of a different fruit that gave powers.

"It is a story, Rei. And not necessarily one based on truth. But there is a lesson in the story that must be heard." Gin calmly explained. "Now shall I continue?"

"Okay. Sorry."

"Do not apologize. Questions are important to ask, but let us wait till the end to ask them in this matter." Gin chided lightly before continuing her tale. "Now the little girl was somewhat mad. She felt like her mother had tricked her by not telling her earlier that she could only have one ever. She might have tried to savor it more if she had known, but all that was forgotten for a time when she realized that she was stronger, faster, able to understand things better, and so many other good things. She realized that the fruit had given her these gifts and was secretly upset that her mother would keep such a wonderful fruit from her.

"After a while, the little girl began to think, as little children often might, that her mother was purposely keeping the sweet fruit from her. None of the other sweets she had consumed before and since could ever measure up to that taste and she was left greatly dissatisfied with her sweets. Quietly, she stewed in her mind over the unfairness of the whole situation, dreaming up absurd ideas of where her mother was purposely keeping those fruits from her so she could have them all to herself. Determined, the little girl set out into the woods, where her mother often went when she was heading out of visits. She did not know who lived in the forest in the back of their yard, but she was determined enough to find those fruits to not care.

"Soon she came to a strange house, filled with many odd things, and a odd garden in the back. No one was home, or so she thought, but she never fully went to investigate, instead noticing the produce of an odd, but beautiful looking tree. It was the fruit she was looking for! And without hesitation or a second thought about the house nearby, the little girl climbed up the tree to a decent branch and proceeded to pick a piece of fruit. The first thing she noticed, before even taking a bite, was that this fruit was much smaller and harder than the fruit she had eaten, but she didn't care much, for it was just as sweet. She ate one, then another one, and another one and another one and so on and so on till she could not eat anymore without throwing up. By then, she had consumed a fair amount for a five year old and was content to take a nap in the tree. That is, until she heard her mother scream in fright.

"Her mother had been coming to visit the man who lived in the house, who had very much been home. He had seen the girl and he had watched her eat the fruit from his tree- the very fruit her mother knew she should only have _one_ of- and never bothered to stop the child as she took her fill. Her mother rushed to the tree, snatching her child from the branch before inspecting the child, talking to her in great stress as if expecting her to be ill or perhaps crazed. When the child spoke back to her, she was greatly relieved and inspected the fruit her daughter had so foolishly consumed. They were _like_ the fruit she had given her, only _these_ ones were not yet ripe. Her mother told her that she had to be the most luckiest girl alive, for that was the only thing that spared her from a horrible fate.

"The child didn't know what her mother spoke of. If anything, she felt stronger! She felt smarter! She wasn't afraid of her mother's unknown fears nor of her wrath. Her mother, however, _knew_ there would be dire consequences to consuming the fruit, no matter the fact that none of them had been ripe. After informing the man, who had watched and not done a thing to stop the girl, that she would not be visiting again, she left the woods with her daughter, but not before taking a flame and burning down the man's tree out of spite.

"The little girl, though upset her mother set fire to such a wonderful tree, did not seem to regret her disobedience. She was better for it! She knew she was! That is, until meal time came around. Despite her anger at her daughter, the mother understood that her child was just that. A child. She would make mistakes and that she would have to learn from them. So instead of punishing her fully, for she knew that eventually the consequences of her daughter's gluttony would arise, she baked her one of the girl's favorite meals. With her sense of smell enhanced as well, the girl was all too eager to take a bite of her dinner, only to pause when the hot piece of food touched her tongue. Thinking it a mistake, she swallowed and took another bite and another and another until she had finished the whole thing as was sobbing in despair at her realization.

"She could not taste a single bite. The fruit's sweet flavor had stolen away her ability to taste. From that day on, she could not taste anything anymore. The cost to her disobedience was heavy for the sweet-loving child. No matter how good something smelled or looked, she could not taste it. Her strength, her capability to learn and understand, her agility, her sense of smell and hearing- she would have traded it all for the chance to taste once more."

"She couldn't taste anything?" Rei's eyes grew wide with fear. "Is there really a fruit that can do that?"

"No, Rei. The fruit she ate was suppose to only be eaten once. That was the rule, but she disobeyed and though her consequences were not as severe as they could have been, she did get punished in the end for not listening to her mother. Her mother knew best and tried to do right by her child."

"Is that the end of the story?"

"Yes. It is."

"It's not a very nice or happy ending." Rei frowned.

"Not all stories end happily. If this one had ended happily, the child would not have learned her lesson about greed, gluttony, and obedience. She has to live with the consequences of her mistakes. After all, for every action we take, there will always be an opposite and equal reaction. That is how our world balances itself. In return for the enhanced abilities, she had something taken away. And sometimes the price outweighs the object or cause we so desired." Gin elucidated for the young girl. "Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?"

"Sometimes happy endings don't happen. We must pay the price that our actions might make and sometimes the price we pay is too steep in comparison to the actions we take, regardless of whether it was based off of good intentions or not." Rei managed to explain.

She was pretty sure she understood the implications of the story. It was a little difficult to understand why someone would purposely write such a sad ending for a story, but she had read a few books before that also had unhappy endings. She mentally shrugged it off as an adult thing and decided to move on. It wasn't like she was going to do what the little girl did. She always listened to her mommy and daddy and she _never_ got in trouble anyways. So she did her best to humor Gin and disregarded the warning within the story. She listened and obeyed all the time anyways, so she had nothing to worry about.

Gin chuckled at how well spoken the answer was. Rei really was a smart girl if she could understand what she was trying to get across. Gin glanced over to Drake and offered him a lazy smirk. He nodded to her before opening up his book and returning to it. Gin turned her attention back to Rei.

"It's late now and ole' Gin is getting tired. I will sing you a few songs before I go to sleep, so start picking your tunes, kiddo."

"Binks' Sake!" Rei beamed, her mood instantly brightening despite such a sad ending to a story. Gin laughed, unsurprised that the child would want her to sing that song. It was her favorite after all, it seemed. So Gin opened her mouth and began to sing the song yet again.

* * *

A/N: Thank you everyone for your patience! Life hit us quite a bit since the last update, but we didn't forget you as we worked on this chapter! Now to talk about what we wrote, well, how the devil fruit came to be is one of the 'interpretations' I've mentioned on my profile. I've always wanted to display an idea of how such a powerful fruit came in the One Piece world and Volleys-chan turned the idea into a wonderful children's tale. :) And thanks to Volleys-chan, Drake was introduced! :D We hope you enjoyed his introduction as much as we did. The song that Gin taught Rei is a combination of the three mentioned in the disclaimer. Volleys-chan and I had a fight about this and this was our compromise: mashing three songs together and picking up the pieces where they fell.

Some of you may have wondered if the story will get more fun or interesting since not a lot of enjoyable canon characters aren't seen currently. I have a one word answer. Yes. I'm currently writing the two year training arc, which means I've done the Marineford and Post-Marineford arcs since Volleys-chan mentioned I've done the Straw Hats' separation back in chapter 2. And for the two year training, you'll get to see not only what my OC has to improve on but also the comedic interactions with few canon characters, one of them uses _a_ sword and one uses _a_ rifle. And no, they're not part of the same crew. ;)

See you in the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.**

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**The Dragon Chronicles**

_Chapter 7 - Belvederes_

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"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."

-Mark Twain

* * *

After several more nights of Drake being assigned to watch the two females, Admiral Kuzan decided that Drake was trustworthy enough to watch Rei during the day time as well by himself entirely. Rei, in fact, was more comfortable around the brown haired man with the X shaped scar upon his chin than either of the towering admirals whose sheer presence made her nervous. She might have liked Admiral Kuzan well enough, but he would still always make her nervous for some reason.

One of the reasons that Rei liked Drake more than either two admirals was because he actually found her activities to do that she liked. The first day he was put in charge of her, he procured an old leather hardback book filled with miscellaneous stories. Rei sat on the hard benches of the cafeteria and read until she and Drake's presences were required elsewhere. The next day, he managed to get ahold of paper and crayons. From where, she didn't know, but she was all to happy to get the chance to draw, like most children her age did. She would draw pictures about the stories that Gin told her, showing them to Drake after she finished because the marine man had also heard most of these tales. He would give her a calm smile, nodding at her picture, and tell her she was doing an excellent job.

Though she didn't get to see Gin as much during the day now that she wasn't forced to be Admiral Kuzan's shadow, she still slept in the brig with the woman and spent her quality time with the pirate there with Drake watching over the two. If anything, Rei was slowly getting better and better during her time on the marine warship and though it would be a long while until she could remove the bandages from her hands, her bruises were healing up fine. Her confidence had grown exponentially through her interactions with Gin and Drake. She was able to talk to both of them so freely without the slightest hint of a stutter.

One day, on a particularly rainy morning, Admiral Sakazuki seemed to get it in his head that he should continue to encourage young Rei about the wonderful career of a Marine, fighting for justice and killing those despicable men and women who call themselves pirates. Recently, he felt, the child wasn't as open to hearing his notions about justice, and so by showing her his office and teaching her a little about the importance of his job, he would reaffirm the vital calling Marines had in the world to destroy all evil doers and establish Absolute Justice! The child once agreed with him on his views and he had no doubt, that once he was done, she would agree wholeheartedly once more.

So, that day, instead of going outside to sit in the rain merely to force the pirate bitch to stand in the horrible weather, he opted to work from his office. He had a small cell in the room for cases like the one he had now, where he couldn't take his eyes off the prisoner for long periods of time. That meant, that by the time Admiral Kuzan escorted both Rei and the soon to be Captain Drake, the pirate wench was already locking in the cell, sitting in the center of the room, far away from any of the bars that made up her cell. She was smart enough to know to keep out of reach within her cell, just in case someone, like Admiral Sakazuki, used her proximity to the cell bars to drag her closer to cause her harm.

When the three finally came in, Sakazuki have been waiting a little while for his lazy counterpart to locate the girl and her current escort, Admiral Kuzan made his way to the floor behind the magma admiral's desk, Drake stood dutifully at the door, and Rei was standing before Admiral Sakazuki's desk, looking up at his towering form. Rei tried not to look as nervous as she felt.

"So what do you think of my office? Impressive no?" Sakazuki spoke down to the small girl.

"I... I... I think... it's nice, Admiral Sakazuki." Rei said in a quiet voice, despite her nervousness around the intimidating man, she was able to keep her stutter to a minimum. "Very neat and orderly..."

Sakazuki smirked at her observation. "A man such as myself must be disciplined enough to keep his quarters spic and span. If it was a jumbled mess, it would reflect poorly upon my character."

"H-hai, Admiral Sakazuki." Rei didn't know what else to say. She swallowed deeply as she cast her eyes at the cell, peeking at Gin who was leaning against the wall that the cell was built against, still in the center so that no one could merely reach out and grab her. The cloth that she used to conceal her face was wrapped around her head once more, only letting Rei see her gold eyes. Gin held her eyes for a moment before looking away, but it was enough for the message to be sent.

_Be careful._ That was what Gin wanted her to know.

Rei swallowed deeply once more as she quickly snapped her eyes back to Sakazuki's brown ones. However, he mistook her nervousness of him as her being nervous around the pirate woman. He didn't know much about what went on at night when the ruby eyed girl was trapped in the same room as the annoying bitch of a pirate. All he knew is that Kuzan thought it would be wise to throw the promising young marine, Drake, into the mix. He was completely unaware about her changing mindset about pirates and what justice truly was.

"Don't worry, that _bitch_ can't reach you from here. She's complete incapable of using her powers with those kairoseki cuffs around her wrists, rendering her nearly powerless." Sakazuki told her, ignoring the glare Kuzan was no doubt sending his direction for not watching his words around the child yet again.

Rei blinked, totally surprised at the idea that Gin had a devil fruit ability. She had never even mentioned it before, which was odd in her opinion. Wouldn't it be something worth mentioning? Rei glanced once more over to Gin's form, noticing how the woman refused to make eye contact with the girl. Rei quickly surmised that she had purposely left out the tidbit of information in all the tales she had told the girl about her travels. It only made Rei curious as to what her power was.

"Nearly?" Rei finally returned to the conversation she was having with Admiral Sakazuki. She knew it had been Gin that had saved her from the Sea King, meaning she didn't require her devil fruit powers to be effective in killing, but Rei knew that Admiral Sakazuki was unaware that she knew who had saved her that fateful day. By pretending to be ignorant, perhaps Rei could learn a little more about Gin's devil fruit power.

"Despite being greatly weakened by the kairoseki cuffs, the pirate wench is more than capable of killing a man with her bare hands, as you already know. The cuffs _do_ prevent her from electrocuting anyone, however." Sakazuki informed the child.

"_Sakazuki_." Admiral Kuzan hissed at the man. Apparently that wasn't something that Admiral Sakazuki was suppose to tell her.

"S-she's really a-a devil fruit u-user!? Which one?" Rei's eyes wide in her surprise.

Honestly, it didn't seem to fit Gin's personality to eat a devil fruit, but there was obviously no other explanation as to how the woman could electrocute people otherwise. Perhaps she had done so ignorantly, but that made no sense to Rei either. Gin was too smart to accidentally eat a devil fruit, and too confident in her other abilities to purposely eat one. Perhaps she had had no choice at the time? Rei would ask the woman later tonight when it was just Drake, Gin, and her.

"Indeed, she is." Admiral Sakazuki affirmed, ignoring Admiral Kuzan's warning. "However, there are many devil fruit out there that have yet to be properly categorized. This fortunate bitch seemed to have managed to get her hands on one of these and has been able to keep it quiet for a long, long time."

"The only reason you know I have any powers is because Garp reported it after witnessing me zap that bastard Shiki when he copped himself a nice feel of my ass." Gin decided she would enlighten the group on how her secret had been initially discovered.

All three men in the room stared at the cowled woman with muted shock or disbelief. Admiral Kuzan, who had been lying on the floor with his sleeping mask covering his eyes, lifted the mask to peek a surprised look her way. Drake, too, merely stared at her in astonishment. Admiral Sakazuki actually turned around in his seat to stare at the woman in incredulity. Even Rei was surprised at the reason, but did not understand the full implications of what the woman said. The awkward pause in the conversation did not escape Gin as she narrowed her gold eyes.

"What?" Gin snorted un-lady like. "I have a mighty nice ass. It wasn't the first time in my life someone's copped a feel, just the last time for Shiki."

"Vice-Admiral Garp failed to mention the... _circumstances_ that led up to you revealing your devil fruit abilities..." Admiral Kuzan coughed awkwardly.

"Funny..." Gin muttered under her breath. "I specifically remember him falling out of his seat in the back of that bar, _where he was attempting to spy on us from_, roaring with laughter. I'm pretty sure he laughed so hard he managed to wet himself."

There was another awkward pause as the three military men suddenly understood _why_ the event had not been disclosed in the report. Realizing that this wasn't imposing a _good_ image of what marine officials were like, Admiral Sakazuki reared back one of his feet, kicking the cell behind his desk without even getting up. It rattled violently, causing the woman inside to instantly push herself further against the sole wooden wall, hoping that the metal frame wouldn't collapse from the sheer force of his kick.

"Quiet, you bitch. I am trying to hold a conversation here with a promising recruit!" Admiral Sakazuki snapped waspishly.

"Re-re-recruit?" Rei parroted nervously.

"Odd. That's what I was just thinking too." Admiral Kuzan muttered lowly as he sat up a bit to glare daggers at the back of Admiral Sakazuki's head. Apparently, this was the first time anyone, besides the magma admiral himself, had heard of this.

"Of course not right away," Admiral Sakazuki amended his previous statement. "She's just a child now, but with the qualities she has displayed already- her ingenuity, level of discipline, her ability to keep a cool head in dire situations, and her ability to follow through with her goals - prove that she will one day be an effective Soldier of Justice."

"_Not this again_." Gin muttered under her breath, but immediately shut up when Admiral Sakazuki rattled her cell with another powerful kick.

"Shut up! I'm not talking to you!" He snapped viciously. He turned back to the young girl with approval in his eye. "You'd, of course, have to wait until you are at least fourteen to enter the academy, but after that, I have no doubt, with my sponsorship naturally, you'd be able to graduate the top of your class and be given the rank of Marine Captain."

Rei noticed out of the corner of her eye that Drake had stiffen in his spot at the door. She knew he was waiting for either admiral to write their letter of recommendation and she, a little eight year old, had received something akin to the very thing he desired - from the more rigid, demanding one of the two. She felt bad about it, but there as nothing she could do. It wasn't like she had asked or even wanted the attention or the circumstances that had won over Admiral Sakazuki's approval. Though she enjoyed her time with Gin and even Drake, she rather have never been stolen away from Captain Mizushima's ship in the first place.

..._Maybe_...

Still, she'd rather not have met _them_ at all. If she could have met the two in different circumstances, she would have much preferred that to this. But, what could have been and actually happened were two different things. Rei was merely grateful she met both of them.

Realizing that Admiral Sakazuki was waiting impatiently for her reply, Rei choked out the first thing her eight year old mind could think of.

"That's re-really k-kind of y-you... But...I-I-I don't thi-nk I c-c-could d-d-do th-that." Rei shook her head.

"And why not?" Admiral Sakazuki frowned at her comment.

She'd be a wonderful asset to the Marines, couldn't she see that?

"I...I re-really..." Rei took a deep breath, like Gin had taught her before continuing on. "I don't think I could..."

"Nonsense!" Admiral Sakazuki barked, not noticing how the child flinched violently at his tone. "You'd make a wonderful Marine! All you need is the proper training and education! By the time you are nineteen, you'll be partaking in world changing battles between pirates and Marines, establishing _true_ Justice for all the world to see!"

"But... I'm no-not sure I w-want t-t-to arrest... pirates..." Rei admitted, wringing her hands as she did so.

"And why not? Pirates are lower than the dirt. They are bastard children of bastard parents! They are scum! They bow to no one, disobey the rules of the land, and do as they please! They steal, they kill, they rape the people of their food, their belongings, and their innocence!"

Rei shrunk back, shaking at how Admiral Sakazuki voice had changed to a harsh and cruel tone. If she had looked around, she would have noticed the others in the room suddenly becoming tense as the hot-headed admiral became more passionate about what he believed. Gin was giving her small gesture with her hand, signaling the girl to quit the current topic. Drake was doing the same, only more subtle than the pirate who was out of the line of sight of the magma admiral. He brushed his hand against the collar of his shirt in a cut off manner. He too was left unnoticed. Hell, even Admiral Kuzan was sitting up, shaking his head no to discourage the girl from continuing on. All went unnoticed by the nervous girl as she stood bravely before the ill-tempered man, unaware of what her bravery might cause.

"But... but, surely, not _all_ pirates are... are like that..." Rei argued in a quiet manner, nervously fidgeting with her fingers as she expressed her views to the dangerously imposing man. "I-I-I mean... not all pi-pirates are bad... some... some might be... might be good." _Like Gin_. Rei mentally added to her sentence.

Gin slapped the palm of her hand against her head as she shook her head. The girl was braver than before, but she was still an ignorant child unaware of that the admiral before her was capable of doing if _anyone_ dared to question his world-views. Everyone in the room could feel the tension in the room, now that the magma admiral's temper shot through the roof. He stood up suddenly, his chair falling back with how quickly he stood. His eyes burned angrily as he glared down at the foolish, ignorant child who _dared_ question his beliefs. A _pirate_ sympathizer.

"Haven't you already learned your lesson! You were held _hostage_ by pirates! They stole you away from your family and all that you know! They locked you up in a cell like a prisoner and only remembered to feed you when they _felt_ like it! They were going to _sell_ you as a _slave_! And you claim that there are _good_ pirates out there!" He was spiting mad as he continued. "No! There are merely crafty bastard pirates and their bitches with ulterior motives! They only do things that benefit _them_! Pirates are evil men! Revolutionists are evil men! Marines are good, upstanding men!"

"Like that one marine who tried to hurt me far worse than _any_ pirate did!?" Rei shot back, her temper flaring at his implications of Gin's selfless acts towards her were for her own selfish reasons. "He was a _marine_ and he was _bad_! And Gin is a _pirate_, but she is _good_!"

By the time she had already said it, Rei instantly wished she could have taken it back. Something within the magma admiral snapped at her comment. Perhaps it was because his long, difficult, and trying days with the pirate woman, who did nothing but test his discipline all hours of the day, but that last comment made by the little girl was definitely the last straw needed to snap his control over his anger in half.

Rei could vaguely hear the shouting from the others as she stared up into the furious gaze of Admiral Sakazuki, frozen to the spot by her overwhelming fear of what he was about to do. The look upon his face was one of pure anger and the room was suffocating in the deadly, killing aura that the man emanated. Her eyes caught every subtle detail of the man before her and fear clenched both her lungs and her heart as she suddenly felt her heart hammering and at a loss of breath. Admiral Sakazuki's arm was slowly morphing into magma as he raised it to smite her with it.

She was going to die. All because she believed, and still did even at this moment, that a pirate could be better than a marine.

In a flash, Rei was harshly pulled away from the magma admiral's reach while, almost at the exact same moment, the two bound manacled arms looped over the admiral's head and quickly yanked when they reached his thick neck, pulling him against the cell's frame. The ice admiral finally catching his peer's attack now that the kairoseki within the cuffs reverted the man's arm back to flesh.

"Sakazuki!" Admiral Kuzan quickly yelled at him, trying to reign in the man's ill temper by bringing him back to his senses.

Rei was shaking like a leaf in Drake's arms as he took her to the other side of the room before giving her a thorough once over, making sure the child had not been harmed by the magma in any way. He was saying something to her, but Rei didn't know what, her eyes were still fast upon Admiral Sakazuki's form as he knocked away Admiral Kuzan with a hard punch to the jaw before jabbing his elbow through a hole in the cell's criss-cross pattern and hitting Gin harshly in the gut. Her grip, which was impressive for a woman that was bound in kairoseki cuffs and beaten nightly, loosened at the hit, allowing Admiral Sakazuki to loop her manacled hands back over his head before releasing them, causing the woman to fall backwards and hit the floor before she could recover from his jab that had severely winded her.

However, unlike before where Admiral Sakazuki would stop after reinstating his power over her, he quickly moved to the cell door and unlocked it before the ice admiral could regain his own wits. Gin had already recovered from his attack but was unable to get off the floor in time to dodge his initial attack. He violently stomped on her, causing her to let out a quick cry of pain before lifting his foot to do it again. Gin, however, was able to roll out of the way last moment and regain her footing. Admiral Sakazuki wasn't an admiral for nothing however and was already preparing to make contact with her ribs by using his elbow once more.

Most times, when she and Admiral Sakazuki got into it and he got physical, she would take the damage without fighting back, but he had gone too far in her opinion and she wouldn't lie down and take it this time. Something in her eyes sparked to life as she caught his attack with her hands, using the momentum to swing her body upwards and land a firm kick to his rib cage before expertly dodging his counterattack and engaging in a counterattack of her own. It thrusted Admiral Sakazuki into one of the metal walls of the cage, which was also made of kairoseki, before Gin continued her onslaught of open palmed hits to his gut, using her haki to amply power of the attack.

It didn't deter the admiral long as he managed to use his knee to land a solid hit to her chin, throwing the woman back a few feet. Gin attempted to balance herself before she fell over from such an alarmingly powerful attack, but almost tripped as she reached the maximum limit the shackles around her ankles would allow at one point. She was quick to recover in time to roll into the hard punch her opponent delivered to her ribcage.

Before anything else could happen, Kuzan shot between the two, pushing hot-tempered man into the kairoseki cell wall and pushing the pirate woman into the wooden wall adjacent to the wall he pushing the his peer into. The amount of damage they had done to each other had been only a matter of moments, only attributing to the level of caliber both of them held in the field of hand to hand combat.

"Sakazuki, cease and desist before I court-martial your ass for attacking an officer of the law, a civilian, and a restrained, defenseless prisoner!" Kuzan bellowed, snapping the other man back to his senses.

"That _bitch_ is anything but _defenseless_!" Sakazuki snarled, but managed to regain his composure enough to where Kuzan was certain that if he let go, the man would not attack the pirate woman again.

"You attempt to touch her like that again, you bastard, and I'll rip your face off and gouge out your eyes with my nails!" Silver snarled back at him, her eyes burning wildly with rage as she glowered at the much taller and deadlier magma user.

Kuzan stared at Silver with shock. Not once since they had arrested her had he seen her so riled up and vicious. He nearly froze when he looked into her golden orbs and realized how _alive_ they were oppose to when they had originally found her and arrested her. Her will to live was coming back and because of a single child.

He was snapped back into reality when Sakazuki marched out of the cell and out of his office entirely. Kuzan dropped the woman, quickly following after Sakazuki, whose temper was still not all that reigned in, slamming the cell door behind him as he called out to the other admiral. Drake, who had already made sure that Rei was alright and unharmed, also chased after the two admirals in case Admiral Kuzan needed assistance in restraining Admiral Sakazuki if his temper happened to spike again. Out of habit, Drake shut the door of the office so no one else would enter the room while both admirals were gone.

Suddenly, it was only Rei and Gin left in the room, alone. Gin had slumped down against the wooden wall the moment Admiral Kuzan had released his hold on her. All her previous energy was sapped now that the threat upon the young girl's life was gone. She sat slumped and motionless. Her breathing shallow and rapid, but almost undetectable from Rei's viewpoint.

"G-g-gin?" Rei nervously stuttered, twisting her fingers due to the anxiety the child was feeling.

She had just watched mindlessly as Gin had once again saved her, rescuing her in a time of great need. She almost feared that the woman was unconscious or even dead. Relief flooded her small body when the woman twitched a bit before pulling herself up and meeting Rei's ruby stare.

"I'm not dead yet, kiddo, just pushing my limits." Gin told her, before attempting to get back onto her feet.

She let out a pained groan as she pulled herself up to her feet and shuffled over to the other side of the cell, where she once more slid down to the ground, using the cell wall to ease her way down slowly.

"Come here, little one." Gin beckoned her. "I have some things I need to talk to you about and our time together is running very short."

In an instant, Rei was at the other side of the cell, grasping the cell bars and pushing her forehead through the holes to press against Gin's tattered clothes.

"I'm so-so-so-so sor-r-r-r-ry." The child sobbed as she sought forgiveness and comfort from the older female.

Gin reached her arms out and took hold of the young girls face, cradling Rei's jaw in her open palms. "Hunhunhunhun." Gin flinched in pain that her gentle laugh had caused. "Don't... Don't you cry. Don't you dare shed a tear for an old pirate like me. It wasn't your... It wasn't your fault."

Rei shook her head. "But... but if I hadn't... If I hadn't s-s-said-"

"Hush." Gin used the pad of her thumbs to wipe away Rei's tears. "It wasn't you. He's a marine _admiral_ he has more discipline than that. It was me. I've been pushing his limits since I got onto this dismal ship. I didn't know that you'd be the one to finally snap his control in half."

"But still!" Rei sobbed.

"It is all forgiven and forgotten." Gin cut her off. "Now, listen to me, Rei. I need you to calm down the best you can and put on a brave face. There are a few things I need to tell you before we are no longer alone. Can you do that?"

Rei hiccuped lightly as she bit her lip and choked back a sob. She nodded and focused on the woman before her, who was leaning heavily on one shoulder and keeping her steady golden gaze on her ruby eyes.

"Good girl." Gin let out another chortle, wincing again as the pain in her side flared once more. "Now, I'm not sure if there is a surveillance den den mushi in here, so I'm going to have to make this as fast as I can. I was going to tell you later, but Bluebird assigned Drake to watch us and I couldn't tell you. Not with him there. He's a good man, but he's a marine, nonetheless, and old habits die hard for me."

Rei nodded, leaning closer so Gin didn't have to speak too loudly. "Y-yes. I'm l-listening, Gin."

She took a shaky breath as she leaned in further to talk quietly to the young girl. "You and I are the same, in a way. Our eyes set us apart from them- from regular humans. The only way to tell who is like us is by their vivid eye coloring. It is the only physical tell-tale of our birthright before it is fully awakened. And it should be something you should be very proud of. There's a history - a legacy - hidden within our very blood that I wish I could elaborate upon, but I cannot risk it. Not here."

Rei gave her a perplexed look. She had managed to reign in her crying to quiet sniffles, but she hadn't fully regained control of her voice. "B-b-birthright? Le-legacy? Re-regular... humans? Wh-what are y-you ta-talking about, Gin?"

Gin shook her head. "I can't tell you much more than that. You will have to learn what I mean on your own unfortunately. But fear not, my little one. Self discover is found in the journey, not at the end of it."

"B-b-but... I... I don't understand!" Rei choked back another sob as she shook her head.

"You will. One day." Gin promised her. "Until then, treasure your uniqueness. It can feel like a curse at times, but it is also a wonderful, wonderful gift. Always remember that. For me, okay?" She wiped another tear from the small child's face, staring at her eyes with such gentle admiration.

Rei could tell that the older woman was insinuating that she treasure her rare eye color. She wanted to tell her that she was wrong. That her eyes were merely a curse, since every bad thing that had happened to her thus far was because of them, one way or another. But, she nodded, gaining a weary laugh from the older female in return.

"Good. Now," Gin continued, "there is one last thing I want you to do for me. It would put my heart to ease knowing that I told you."

"Wh-what is it, Gin?"

"Never, ever, _ever_ set foot on an island called Sabaody Archipelago, if you can help it." Gin looked at her with stern eyes. "That place is not for the likes of us. You understand?"

Rei shook her head, regardless of her confusion as to why Gin would give her such a strange and peculiar warning. But, if she had gone out of her way to make sure she told her, it must have been very important to her. So Rei agreed without question. "Yes Gin."

"My, such a good, good girl." Gin said endearingly as she stroked Rei's face one last time before withdrawing her hands from the girl's face. "Such a beautiful woman you'll grow up to be."

"I... I want to be just as beautiful as you..." Rei confessed to the pirate woman.

"Hunhunhun." Gin flinched again. "That's really sweet of you, little one, but I'm not really looking my best here."

"I don't care. You're beautiful." Rei shook her head.

Gin's eyes widened for a second before gentling. "Thank you. It's been a while since someone's told me that and meant it so kindly." She petted Rei one last time before she began to slowly move back to where she had been sitting before. "Go back to your original spot. I don't know how much longer we have alone together, but it wouldn't do to let them know we spoke of things not meant to be repeated."

Rei didn't argue or question Gin. She quietly went back to the spot where Drake had left her and sat down, curling her knees to her chin, and waiting for the marines to come back. She wasn't sure what was going to happen now, but she had a feeling that it was going to be bad for Gin.

* * *

While Gin had been relaying her message to Rei, Kuzan had managed to catch up with Sakazuki in the hallway. The other admiral was pacing now, trying to find a more suitable outlet for his anger than unleashing it upon an ignorant child.

"Sakazuki." Kuzan called out to the man. "What the hell is wrong with you? Attempting to attack a _little_ girl whose gone through several extremely traumatic events!?"

"She defended a pirate! She defended that _bitch_ of a woman who-"

"Has saved her life more times than she probably knows!" Kuzan cut him off, shoving the man into the wall now that he had caught up. "You can't expect her to hate someone whose been nothing but _kind_ and _gentle _to her!"

Sakazuki pushed Kuzan away. "And _whose_ fault is it that she grew so attached to the pirate? Hmmm? I told you not to put her in the brig with that detestable woman and now she has that little girl wrapped around her fingers!"

"If you noticed, it is the opposite way around." Kuzan didn't deny it might have been a mistake to let the girl near the pirate in hindsight. But he hadn't found Drake at that time and _he_ and _Sakazuki_ couldn't just keep the girl in their room. "Rei might not believe in your _Absolute Justice_, but it doesn't mean she doesn't have a perfectly good understanding of right and wrong- of good and bad. You shouldn't have attempted to attack her! What if Silver-san, Commander Drake, and I weren't there to stop you? We'd be dealing with a _Marine Admiral_ having _attacked_ and _killed_ an innocent civilian child!"

"Silver-san!" Sakazuki spat in disgust as he quickly slammed his peer into the other hallway wall and pinned him there. "We wouldn't be dealing with this whole situation if _she_ wasn't here! That woman has been nothing but trouble since we captured her!" Sakazuki fumed. However, he let go of Kuzan when pain exploded in his abdomen from where the small pirate woman had gotten a series of hits in. He held his hand to his injured area, pointing down the hall to where his office was with his other hand. "And what the _hell_ was that back there anyways! If she hadn't had those cuffs on, some of those attacks _might_ have killed me if I were a lesser man!"

"If she had access to her full power _and_ didn't get beaten on a daily basis to keep her weak, _it would have killed you_, you foolish man!" Kuzan shot back. "She's Longjohn Silver! She's not exactly known for being a damsel in distress."

"Most women, marine, pirate, or even civilian, are not _that_ powerful. She's killed a Sea King with one bullet, killed a healthy, viral marine man, and even managed to hold her own against me- all while wearing those cuffs! That is not your stereotypical woman." Sakazuki purposely pointed that out.

Kuzan blinked. "Arara, do you honestly _not_ know _who_ that woman is?"

"As you said. Longjohn Silver. Some bitch to some bastard pirate captain, no doubt."

"You have no clue." Kuzan realized the full extent of his peer's ignorance. "How do you _not_ know who she is?"

"I don't dwell on pirates and their history. I merely eliminate them from this world. It matters little of who they were as long as they are declared guilty by the world government." Sakazuki snapped at him.

Honestly, the only few names he bothered to know outside the names of the Shichibukai were Gol. D Roger, Silvers Rayleigh, Shiki the Golden Lion, and the revolutionist Monkey D. Dragon. _And_ he only knew Roger's name, due to him being the cause of this whole 'golden age of pirates'; Rayleigh's, because he had a run in with the pirate before; Shiki's, because he actually escaped Impel Down; and Dragon's, because he was Vice-Admiral Garp's only son and leader of those pesky revolutionists.

Kuzan gave him a look of disbelief, which made Sakazuki scowl at him. This was a pirate _woman_. How important could she really be?

"She's Kaneko Gin!" Kuzan blurted out, still in disbelief that Sakazuki _didn't_ know who she was. "She's practically the pin-up girl for pirates everywhere! She got her pirate name because she would use her womanly wiles and silver tongue to _rob_ men blind! They didn't even know she had stolen the clothes off their backs until she had already gotten away. Literally! She's left more men in nothing but their long-johns than we've cared to count!

"Not just that! But she was the _third_ member to join the Roger pirates! She was _the_ Gold Roger's quartermaster and second mate! Only under Roger and Rayleigh in terms of authority on the _Oro Jackson_!"

Sakazuki stared at him, the importance of the woman finally hitting him at full force, but Kuzan wasn't finished ranting at him.

"Roger might be known as the Pirate King, even to this day, and Rayleigh is still known as Dark King Rayleigh, but after Roger died she became known as their _Dowager Queen_! She was third-in-command of one of the most _powerful_ pirate crews in _history_. She was given the title of Pirate Queen until Roger was executed. So, no. She isn't just '_some_ bitch to _some_ bastard pirate captain'. She is _the_ most influential and powerful pirate woman of her time! And the only reason we _finally_ caught her is because she wanted to be caught. She wanted to die."

Kuzan finished his irate rant with a frustrated huff. Sakazuki was silent for a moment as he let all that information soak in. This whole time, he had been dealing with a woman who was merely toying with him. She obviously knew that he didn't know a thing about her and used that to her advantage to annoy him. He felt like a fool for not researching his captive's history well enough and he knew that had been her plan from the start were so many things that Sakazuki wanted to say, but he decided to address what caught his attention the most.

"Wanted? As in past tense?"

"It would seem that my mistake was not exposing the girl to Silver-san, but exposing Silver-san to the girl." Kuzan muttered. "Ararara, what a headache that decision turned out to be. If your fight with Silver-san proved anything, it proved her will to live is coming back."

"So what? We'll get to Marineford in another month and a half if we don't make a detour to Water 7. I say drop the brat off at an island and pay her ship-fare to get there."

"It'll be too late by then. Silver-san held up well against you back there. Imagine how much stronger her will to live will be in a month's time? She'll escape us somehow by then."

"Then she must be executed now, in order to nip this in the bud."

Kuzan sighed. "For once, we agree. When giving me my orders to capture and bring Silver-san _back_ to Marineford for a public trial and execution, I was told that if, for any reason, I deemed that we could not _guarantee_ a successful transportation, then we could take matters into our own hands." Kuzan let out another sigh, his shoulders slacking as he came to this final decision. "And I can no longer guarantee that we will have Silver-san in our custody without more casualties than one dishonorable marine."

Though Sakazuki nodded his agreement, he couldn't help but let his curiosity get the best of him. "And why was I not made aware we had that authority? I was only told that we were to escort her to Marineford, no ifs, ands, or buts."

"Because they knew that you'd throw her off the ship at first chance. She tries your temper far too easily to allow you any sort of authority over her life." Kuzan told the magma user.

Sakazuki glared, but made no comment. Without having to vocalize what needed to be done next, both men turned back towards Sakazuki's office to collect the pirate woman, only to pause when they finally realized that Commander Drake had been standing a ways down the hallway and had heard _everything_ that had just been said.

"I should probably collect Rei before you sentence Silver." Drake said quietly, not letting his personal opinion about this whole fiasco show. He was genuinely shocked at who this woman truly was. The whole reason she wore the cowl was because her identity was suppose to remain a secret, to everyone _but_ the two admirals. He knew her name was Silver merely because Kuzan _informed_ him that it was her name.

"Yes." Kuzan sighed, glad that Drake was the man he was. It would have been much worse if anyone less of Drake's caliber had overheard that conversation. "Go get Rei."

"And take her to the upper deck." Sakazuki added in a dark tone. Kuzan was about to argue, but Sakazuki didn't let him. "She needs to learn what happens to filthy, lawless pirate scum _now_ rather than later. She must understand the punishment for behaving outside the law."

The two admirals stared each other down for a second before Kuzan looked away, conceding to the other's condition. The faster they got this whole mess dealt with, the better for him, honestly.

"Go." Kuzan waved off Drake, who immediately turned around and with a faster pace than either two admirals, headed back to the office.

By the time the two admirals reached the office, Drake was already carrying Rei in his arms, she was clinging to his shirt as her head rested on her chest, sniffling slightly from her earlier crying. She noticed both admirals, but turned her head quickly to avoid eye contact with either of them. She had little to no respect left for the one that attacked her and Kuzan had no doubt she'd barely be able to look at him either once she learned of their decision. Drake walked towards his next destination, eyes focused only on the route before him. It seemed he wasn't entirely amiable to this plan either, but knew his place well enough not to say a thing.

Both men ended back up in the magma admiral's office, the place where the whole fiasco started and gazed at the woman held within the cell.

"So. From the look on your designated babysitter's face, I'm guessing that we're not going to be making it to Marineford after all." She commented cooly as she lifted her hands to begin undoing her cowl.

"No. We're not." Kuzan confirmed.

"Shame. I always wanted to see the place. One of the few places I never got to go to, actually." She hummed, pulling off the long cloth that had made her cowl and throwing it to the side.

"We've decided to move your execution up to today. In about thirty minutes." Kuzan once again was the one to speak. It was best that Sakazuki said as little as possible in this situation.

"I see. That's why the girl was carted out of here." The dowager seemed oddly numb about the whole situation, but perhaps she had already concluded that her actions would lead to this. Before either man could continue explaining what was going to happen now, she finally met their eyes with her powerful golden stare. "I have a few things that I'd like you to see to after I'm gone. My last rights, if you will."

"It depends on what your requests are. If I deem them possible, I will see them done. As payment for your good behavior until now and for watching the young girl so diligently." Kuzan allowed. He had managed to beat Sakazuki to replying and easily ignored the man's irate look that had been shot his way.

"First off, you drop that girl off on the nearest island possible and pay her fare to get to Water 7. I'm not going to be around anymore to keep her safe from temperamental dogs." Both she and Sakazuki gave each other a hostile glare, but nothing else happened between the two.

"I will make sure we do." Kuzan nodded. "Anything else?"

"My bag. Give it to the girl. There's nothing too valuable in there, but I like the idea of her having it rather than it being burned or whatever you do to the personal belongings of a convicted, dead pirate."

"I believe that can be arranged."

"And, for my second last request, give that boy, Drake, a damn good letter of recommendation. He's already proved his mettle when he jumped into the line of fire without knowing if someone was going to be able to prevent Doggy from following through with his attack. He deserves to be captain of his own ship and he'll do a damn fine job of it. Expect great things to happen to that one, if he is given the proper chance."

Kuzan blinked. That was not what he was expecting one of the pirate woman's last requests to be, but he couldn't deny that her request was not a bad idea. "I will write him one personally."

"Good." She slowly pulled herself up and walked to the door of the cell.

"And your last request?" Sakazuki finally spoke, his curiousity once again getting the better of him.

Gin gave the two men a weary smile before telling them of her last request.

* * *

Rei was confused as to why she and Drake where standing on the upper deck near the railing. It was not the first time she had been there, but she had never been there with Drake. She could easily watch as all the men on the lower deck went about their business, but that wasn't really what she was interested in.

"Why are we here?" She finally asked, looking up to the brown eyes of her marine guardian.

"I am following Admiral Sakazuki's orders." Drake told her, saying nothing more, nothing less. Honestly, he didn't know _what_ to tell the little girl.

Rei gave him a puzzled look before the men below suddenly began to line up, as if something was about to happen. She looked back down at them, surprised when Admiral Sakazuki and Admiral Kuzan appeared. It didn't take her long to notice Gin standing between the two. Rei was even more confused when Admiral Sakazuki called all his men to attention.

That is, until he explained that they were to bear witness to the execution of Kaneko Gin, the pirate's Dowager Queen. Rei was struck dumb at that moment. Dowager Queen? Her Gin was the Dowager Queen of the pirates? Not just that, but they were going to _execute_ her.

She swiftly turned her head to look at Drake, her eyes pleading with him to tell her that she had misheard, but Drake could only look away.

They were truly going to kill Gin. The little girl's eyes watered as she looked back down at the three, staring at Gin in great distress. She couldn't believe it. Gin was going to be killed and all because of her! She looked away, biting her lip and trying hard not to cry. Gin had told her not even an hour ago to put a brave face on. Did she know that this was to be her punishment? Rei didn't want to watch her beloved Gin die and so she kept her eyes away from the scene below her while fighting back her tears.

"_Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,_

_Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,_

_Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,_

_Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo._"

Rei's head snapped back over to where Gin was. She immediately recognized the song coming from the older woman's mouth, but was confused at the slow, melancholy tempo she used. Whenever she had sung the song before, it was a quick, lively upbeat tune and that's one of the reasons Rei loved it so much. However, now that the speed of the song was drastically slowed, its tune seemed more sad and haunting than happy and up lifting.

"_Gather up all the crew..._

_Time to ship out Bink's brew..._

_Sea wind blows to where,_

_Who knows?_

_The waves will be our guide..._

_O'er across the ocean's tide,_ _The sunset is goin' wild,_

_See the sky... _

_The birds singing in circles passing by..._"

Rei reluctantly watched Gin's slow procession to the front of the battleship, willingly being led by Akainu (she would never be able to think of him as anything else again after this). He had turned to silence her, but was instantly stopped by Aokiji (she would never think of him as anything but that either), who was walking behind the much smaller pirate woman. His face held a solemn look as he shook his head no. It was obviously one of Gin's final requests before dying- singing this song. She never stopped singing throughout this whole transaction between the men.

"_Bid farewell to weaver's town..._

_Say so long to port renowned..._

_Sing a song, it won't be long, before we're casting off..._

_Cross the gold and silver waves..._

_Changin' into water sprays..._

_Sailing out on our journey,_

_To the ends of the sea..._"

Gin was not wearing the cowl like usual, Rei realized at last, allowing everyone to see who their prisoner truly was. Apparently, her identity had been kept a secret until now and now that she was about to die, it didn't matter. Rei, even though she had spent countless nights with the woman, had never really seen her full features since they were always in the dark. Until a little while ago, within Akainu's office, Rei finally got a good look at the woman's face. And just as she had guessed, the woman was beautiful. It didn't matter that she had molting bruises upon her face, a busted, swollen lip from where Akainu had hit her too violently, or how oily, grimy, and tangled her hair was- to Rei, Gin was absolutely beautiful.

"_Gather up all the crew..._

_Time to ship out Bink's brew..._

_Pirates we, we'll divide and conquer all the seas..._

_With the waves to rest our heads,_

_The ship beneath us as our bed..._

_Hoisted high up on the mast our jolly roger flies..._"

There was a far away look in Gin's eyes as she continued to sing her song. Rei could tell even at this distance. Her mind was filled with memories of her life and all the people who had come and gone, Rei could sense it. Rei couldn't hold back the tears anymore as the woman continued her steady pace to the front of the ship. She walked without hesitation, held lifted high and proud, as her eyes clouded with the memories this song summoned forth for her. If anything, she seemed to be smiling as she sang her sad song.

"_Somewhere in the endless sky,_

_A storm has started comin' by..._

_Waves are dancing, having fun,_

_Time to sound the drums..._

_If we let blow winds of fear, then the end of us is near..._

_Even so, tomor-row the sun will rise again..._"

Drake suddenly lunged forward and restrained the young girl he was assigned to watch when she attempted to leave their designated spot on the upper deck to try to get to the doomed pirate woman. He held her to his chest, eyes unable to break away, like most of the marine men witnessing this event, as he too watched the event. Rei was nearly hysterical now as she fought to get to her beloved protector. Drake had half a mind to let her loose, but he knew that if he did and she was able to reach the three, there would be dire consequences. So he held on despite her wriggling and clawing at his arms, sobbing as she did.

"_Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,_

_Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,_

_Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,_

_Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho..._"

Gin's mind indeed was flooded with memories of a time long past. Yet, it didn't stop her from singing, if anything, it encouraged the woman to continue. She wanted to remember it all. Her time with the Roger Pirates. Her time with her boys, her girls, and her nakama. Every trick, every laugh, every tear, every heist, every moment that she had been with them, she was happy to remember it all. It was time to put Ol' Gin to rest at long last. She was no longer needed for this generation to continue on its chosen course. She no longer needed to inspire the young with tales of Roger and his legacy. The age of the pirates was still going strong even years after his execution and more and more people dared to live out their dreams regardless of the consequences that would eventually befall them, just like Roger had always wanted.

"_Gather up all the crew..._

_Time to ship out Bink's brew..._

_Could be today, could be tomorrow,_

_Twilight dreaming._

_No longer now can we see, shadow hands still waving free..._

_Why worry, there's sure to be a moonlit night again..._"

She was at last at the front of the ship, where the Marines usually would throw their devil fruit captives into the deep waters of the ocean to drown. She had seen it done before, yet she had never thought it'd be used for her. She had always known that her death was planned to be a public event, but the admirals were growing fearful of her growing will to live. And they had every right to be afraid of that spark returning to her eyes. But it was too late now. Nothing could stop what was about to occur, even if no body knew it.

Stepping without hesitation to the edge of the warship, she stood there without fear as she finished her song. A final gift, in her mind, to all that would listen.

"_Gather up all the crew..._

_Time to ship out Bink's brew..._"

Gin's voice gave way. Her head fell as her composure wavered. She gritted her teeth as she held back her tears dedicated to memories of long ago.

"_Gin! Gin! Giiiinnnn!" She barely managed to roll over without falling out of the bed and peel a bleary eye open to stare at the two young boys tugging on her sheets in an urgent manner. It was dark and the boat creaked and groaned as the waves tossed it about and the storm outside continued to rage on._

"_Hmmmm?" She muttered as she lifted her head to look at the two boys. A mop of shaggy red hair and bed tousled blue filled her view as the two nearly jumped into her arms. She blinked back the sleepiness as she realized what they had done. "Hey now. What's all the fuss?"_

_It was like the storm decided to answer her question before either two boys could as a flash of light flickered from the window and the deafening rumble of the thunder filled the room. Gin held them closer, not out of fear, but out of maternal instinct._

"_Gin..." Both boys murmured weakly as they buried their faces into her chest so she couldn't see their tears, but she knew because she could feel their hot tears soaking her sleep shirt._

"_A lightning storm, hmm?" She mumbled, leaning back down onto the bed, allowing the two boys to cuddle her side. "Well, there is nothing to fear, Ol' Gin is here. I'll keep you safe from this nasty old storm and Rayleigh will make sure we don't crash and sink, okay?"_

_Both boys peered up at her, her words having brought them comfort, but not enough to soothe their frightened souls. Gin snatched her red headed laddie with one arm, pulling him to one side of her while situating the other more comfortably on the other side. She held onto them tightly before murmuring softly. "How 'bout I sing you lot a song? Would 'Bink's Sake' do?"_

As the vibrancy of her memory faded back into reality, she lifted her head once more. Gin's eyes were more resolute even than before, as she seemed to challenge the tides themselves with her resolve. Even the waves themselves seem to shrink away from the heat of her spirit.

With a voice rejuvenated by the embrace of her fate, she continued to sing.

"_Sing a song, a lively song,_

_For all the oceans wide..._

_After all is said and done,_

_We all end up skeletons..._

_Endless, aimless, the story on the uproarious seas..._"

Gin ended the song there. Her voice did not trail, nor fade; as if the song was the life of the world that she chose to hold in her closed fist. She was not being handed to death. She was facing it down, now running at it full tilt. She gazed down fearlessly at the rough waves that beat against the metal vessel as one last memory surfaced.

"_You two were about to order?" She said sweetly, going back to that teasing smile she had on earlier before breaking up the bar fight singlehandedly._

"_Whatever you think tastes the best!" The raven boomed with a grin._

"_For a cheap price," the other man corrected for his captain. "We don't have that much money."_

_She couldn't help but laugh. "Alright Specs, I'll get you something cheap." _

_She turned around, ignoring the blonde's indignant cry over the nickname she had bestowed him and retrieved what he asked for. She plopped down a glass of water before focusing on the man next to him, who was laughing heartily at the blonde now. She didn't know their names, probably wouldn't unless they became regulars or annoying like Shiki, so like always, she just made up nicknames for them based on their appearances or physical traits._

"_What about you, Mr. Strawhat?" She asked, cocking her head to the side as she waited to take his order, "What would you like?"_

_He looked up at her with a brilliant, contagious grin, "My name is Gol D. Roger! I'm going to be the next King of the Pirates! And what I would like is for you to join my nakama!"_

Gin couldn't help but grin at the memory. How long ago was that? She was shocked when tears at last began to roll down her cheeks. She laughed breathily when she realize that she was crying out of fear or dread, but that her tears were tears of happiness. She was happy. At long last, long after his death and right before hers, she finally could find it within herself to forgive that incorrigible man. She probably would have raised her hands to touch her tears, to truly see if they were real, if her hands were still not bound by the kairoseki cuffs. Her feet too were restrained by shackles, but her neck was finally freed of the iron collar that weighed heavily on her shoulders.

She turned back to look at where Rei was being detained by Drake, the child was screaming by now, chanting at the brunette man to let her go as she futilely struggled to reach out for her. Rei instantly stilled when their eyes met, tears flowing down both of their faces, hers from happiness and Rei's from anguish, before Gin let out one last brilliant smile.

_Live. Be free. Be happy._ Her gold eyes told her.

And before anything else could be done, Gin willingly fell back into the rough ocean's tide and disappeared from sight as the ocean seemingly swallowed her up.

"GGGGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

* * *

Hai-Yes

* * *

A/N: So... I must point out that neither Volleys-chan nor I like character deaths. At all. But... we knew Gin had to die for Rei's sake of character development coming up. Ugh, death... Anyway, back to talking about this chapter. Women discrimination is one of the issues we wanted to portray for Gin, who had more influence and power than what Sakazuki expected. Speaking of Gin, I hope it wasn't confusing to understand that she has two nicknames, one that is her pirate name and the other that is a title given to her based off of her association with the Roger Pirates. We didn't want to make her seem like the 'ultimate pirate' but we felt that if she sailed alongside Roger and was his second mate then she had to be tough. She is suppose to be a model of what a capable female pirate is. Also we have a feeling that Luffy's generation of pirates are much tougher, including their above average female pirates. And I believe that's all I can say. Hoped you enjoy the chapter, even though there was a character death and it updated on Independence that is a holiday to celebrate freedom. :)

Volleys-chan wants to know how many of you actually had to look up what a pin-up girl is.

See you in the next chapter.


End file.
